Eyes of Purple
by Kirsten Erin
Summary: When twins Isaiah and Davina Kane stumble into Narnia, they already think their life has taken a turn for the worst. But when a prophecy concerning Davina is found and foul men plot for Narnia's demise, their troubles have only just begun.
1. Trauma

_**Author's Note: Yay! It's finally here- the complete revamp of Eyes of Purple. If you read the first one, don't be fooled into thinking it's just rehashing the same story, because this is a whole new one. Well, pretty much. Similar premise with much, much more. You'll just have to see for yourself. :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Isaiah, Davina, Snarlmonger, Falon, and Doron are spawns of my own mind. Yayness! The other's are property of C.S. Lewis.**_

**Chapter 1- Trauma**

Davina Kane set the alarm on her cell phone and plugged it into the wall charger before hitting the lights. It wasn't that she really had anywhere to go tomorrow, just that she had a bad tendency to sleep in as long as her body would let her.

Nuzzling up to her pillow, she thought about what tomorrow had in store. Mom had promised that they would go get her driver's license. She and her twin had turned sixteen only days ago. Isaiah was still bad enough at driving that Mom wouldn't let him get his yet. Not that he cared much, he claimed he'd much rather ride a horse than a car any day. Davina failed to see the attraction.

Dad would be leaving for New York tomorrow, though. He'd been traveling pretty often with his new job, which was a fair annoyance to the rest. They hated when he wasn't home, but knew it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He had to bring home the bacon somehow.

She rolled onto her back and let her eyes close wearily, letting a dreamless sleep wash over her.

* * *

"Davina! Wake up! Please wake up!" A frantic voice shook her from her sleep, along with the arms currently jerking her up and down.

She immediately noticed the panicked tone her brother was using and her eyes shot open. Her attempt to ask him what was going on, though, was suddenly choked from her mouth as she began to cough painfully.

Hardly able to see in the dark room, she became aware of a roaring noise and the face that the black basket ball shorts and over-sized Batman t-shirt she'd fallen asleep in were sticking to her skin.

Isaiah was pulling her out of the bed before her brain could register any more than that.

"The house is on fire, Vina." he yelled over the dull roar, beginning to cough as well.

He ran to the door and felt it, pulling away when the wood burned him. They wouldn't be able to get out that way.

Moving to the window, Davina blinked back the smoke that was irritating her eyes and held her breath in an attempt to stifle the coughing. She opened it quickly and stuck her head out, sucking in a deep breath of less smoky air before looking down.

"Jump now!" Isaiah yelled from behind her. She tried to look back at him, but was greeted by another blast of smoke that was pouring from the opening she'd created by opening the window. Instead she looked back down while she climbed out the window and jumped, closing her eyes to brace herself.

The moment she was in the air, she decided against the closed eyes thing and they shot back open. She had less than a second before she hit the ground. She made an attempt at rolling, but that's easier seen than done. She felt her ankle turn the wrong way as she hit the solid earth and let out a cry of pain when she did.

She lay there for a moment before she heard another thud, her brother beside her.

"You okay, Vina?" he yelled.

She didn't bother to answer, but let him help her up, leaning heavily on her left foot in order to relieve some of the pain on her right. Both turned toward the house with wide eyes, barely hearing the sirens blaring as they were nearing the home.

"Our house." she croaked forlornly, her throat protesting the action with a vengeance.

Isaiah moved to the closest window, which led to their parent's window and peeked in, hands wrapped around his face to see better.

He turned back, voice rising in pitch, "Mom and Dad are still in there!"

Davina felt her heart drop into her stomach as her eyes shot open five times wider than they had been before. She looked around quickly and limped over to the pool broom that lay on the ground beside the pool.

"Help me. We can break the window with this."

Isaiah sprinted over, but the moment he reached her, a loud creaking noise broke through the night air and the section of their home above their parents' room came crashing down, collapsing on itself.

Isaiah tackled his sister as debris flew toward them. He only waited a second before hopping back up to his feet and grabbing Davina's hand, pulling her quickly away from the house.

"But Mom and Dad!" she screamed, trying to pull away from her twin.

"They're dead, Vina." he yelled back, voice choked by sorrow. "There's nothing we can do now."

They continued running toward tree cover as they're house continued to give way and fall atop itself. Isaiah might as well have been dragging Davina, who was having trouble keeping up, ankle dragging painfully.

They made it a few feet into the trees when they both stumbled over an outstretched root and went tumbling to the ground. Davina let out a scream as she fell, but the ground wasn't as hard as she had anticipated. In fact, it was rather soft... and wet.

She pushed herself up and found she was looking at something white, though it was hard to see in the dark night.

"Is this snow?" she asked, pushing herself up and staring at her twin with wide eyes.

"In Texas? It's August!" he declared in disbelief as he lifted a handful.

"Where are we?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Isaiah retorted, before letting out a growl of frustration. "What on earth are we supposed to do now?"

"I'm scared." Davina whispered, voice raising in pitch as she did.

Isaiah scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's gonna be okay, sis. We'll be fine." he cooed. "Let's just find a good place to lay down, everything will be better in the morning.

* * *

Isaiah woke with a start. Eyes fluttering open, he realized that he was freezing. Apparently a tanktop and cut off shorts aren't ideal for winter weather wherever they now were. Davina was curled up against him and he didn't move, not wanting to wake her or take her source a heat from her.

Now was his chance to think, but that wasn't helping him any. Nothing made sense. His parents were dead, he and his sister were lost, and there was snow on the ground. They weren't in Texas anymore, but where else could they be?

Davina groaned and scooted in closer, body shaking from the cold. He made to wrap his arms around her to warm her some when he heard gruff voices approaching.

At first, he thought it was his imagination, but the voices grew louder and he decided it would be best for them to get up and maybe hide. They knew nothing about where they were and most certainly didn't need to be caught unaware.

He shook his sister awake, more gently than he had a few hours before, and quietly told her what was happening. They quickly moved behind the tree as the speakers came in view.

Three large wolves stalked into sight, startling the hidden pair. They had been expecting people, not wolves. Just as Isaiah began to wonder where the voices had come from then, one of them spoke.

"What're we doing down here, Snarlmonger? If we get caught, they'll kill us."

"Don't question me, fool." another responded. "You know why we're here- to avenge our queen's death."

Isaiah's eyes shot wide and he turned back to Davina, back pressed against the bark of the tree, heart pounding in his throat. His eyes scanned the area, but there were no trees close that had low enough branches to climb, and certainly none that Davina could get to before the wolves would be upon them.

"Wait." one said. The soft thud of paws in the snow halted and the twins held their breath.

"What is it, Falon?"

"I smell something. Something close." sounds of sniffing. "It's human."

"The queens should be out picking berries, but there aren't any bushes over here. Why would they be this close?" one asked in a harsh whisper.

"It's not them. The queens would have guards, at least horses, this is pure human- no animal scent on it."

"Come out!" One howled gruffly. "You'd do wise, human to make your move now before we do."

"Stay here." Isaiah whispered harshly, stepping out from behind the tree. "It's just me."

"And me." Davina limped out, trying not to show her pain. Her twin cursed under his breath, but she pretended not to notice. "Please, can you help us? We're lost."

"You're not from around here, are you?" the closest wolf chuckled. "You'll want no help from us."

She took a step back, Isaiah moved a bit more in front of her.

"A Son of Adam and a Daughter of Eve. Plenty to go around." another bent it's head low as the two in the back began moving to either side of them.

"Now look here-" Isaiah began to protest, leaning down to pick up a large stick close by.

"Move in, boys."

The moment he gave the command, all three lunged at the twins.

A yelp rang out as Isaiah was able to fend off the first, but it was mostly drowned out by Davina's blood-curdling scream as the next sunk his teeth into her arm and pulled her to the ground. Isaiah whacked the lead wolf before turning to take a whack at the one gnawing on his sister's arm. He didn't get much done though, because at that point the first wolf tackled him from behind, sending him onto his face. Davina let out another scream as the leader clamped down on her thigh.

"Shut her up, Falon. Go for her throat."

Isaiah heard him yell and felt adrenaline rush through his body, but the pain from where the beast was clamping onto his shoulder combined with it's weight were hard to throw off.

He could hear Davina sobbing and that's what pushed him to try harder, finally shaking the over-sized dog off him and kicking it in the face. It yelped as it fell back, but Isaiah turned his attention to his sister. Her left arm was around her neck and the Falon beast bit hard to get her to move it.

Before he got the chance to kick at it, though, an dagger suddenly appeared in it's side and he was made aware of the hoof beats he heard approaching. A roar rang out as a cheetah flew over him and crashed into Snarlmonger, rolling away from Davina as they fought.

Isaiah's head swung back and he was greeted by the sight of two girls on horses. He heard a wolf-like growl as the one he'd kicked moments before lunged for him, but an arrow was imbedded in it's side before he could properly react.

He moved to his twin quickly, worry quickly overtaking any emotions of gratitude he would have normally felt. He moved her arm away from her neck and lifted her out of the snow, holding her close.

"You okay, Vina?" he asked shakily.

"What happened?" she asked, tears streaking her face.

"I think we've been rescued. Can you stand?"

"Maybe."

He pulled her up and into his side, careful to avoid her wounds. The moment she had to put weight on either leg, though she cried out in pain and her legs gave out. He whimpered slightly as he held her up out of the snow and put his other arm under her legs to carry her. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she apparently passed out. He could still tell that she was breathing fine, but fear rolled through his stomach anyway.

It was only then that he realized the two girls had dismounted and were close by him.

"She needs medical attention." The older girl stated, laying a hand on his shoulder. "As do you. Can you ride?"

He mutely nodded.

"Follow us." she then looked past him. "Doron, we must get them back quickly."

He didn't know who she was talking to, nor did her particularly care. His twin was hurt and losing blood and he wasn't about to lose her too.


	2. Frightened

_**Author's Note: So I had this chapter typed up a while back, but my laptop died and deleted the whole thing. Arggh! I was so frustrated that I refused to attempt rewriting again for a while. Well, a while has passed and I'm ready to continue. :P**_

_**Forgot to list ages in the first chapter:**_

_**Peter- 17  
**__**Davina&Isaiah- 16  
**__**Susan- 16  
**__**Edmund- 14  
**__**Lucy- 11**_

_**Disclaimer: Isaiah and Davina are mine. Can't claim anyone else just yet though.**_

**Chapter 2- Frightened**

Peter heard the trumpets signalling Susan and Lucy's return and silently thanked Aslan they'd returned so swiftly. Winter had him on edge, particularly Edmund's absence during it. It had only been a year since Jadis' rule in Narnia ended.

The High King grimaced as he remembered Ed's reaction to the first snowfall of this most dreaded season. He'd promptly lost his lunch all over his balcony and been in bed shaking all day. As the season wore, on Edmund had begun to get used to it. However, Peter had still been surprised when the coal-headed youth had actually volunteered to go check on the inhabitants of the Western Wood. They'd been reporting strange activity and Fell Beast sightings more often than the previous months.

_"It's my mess to clean up. I won't cower in the Cair like a snivelling boy."_ Edmund had declared and Peter applauded him for his couraged. This didn't keep the older boy from worrying though.

As he walked briskly toward the stables, heavy cloak wrapped around his shoulders, he hoped that both his brother and his subjects would rediscover the beauty of winter in the coming years. For now, he understood the fear that permeated their hearts with each new flake of snow and the weight they each carried. One day Aslan would heal their wounds, one day.

As he approached the stable, his step quickened as he overheard his sisters' frantic voices.

"Lucy, wrap your cloak around her before she catches her death. She's lost alot of blood already. And you take mine, you're hardly dressed for winter weather."

"How are we supposed to get her off the horse. Niether of us can lift her and he can hardly get off the saddle with her in his arms." Lucy's voice reached a high pitch as he rounded the bend.

"Let me help." he insisted, "What's going on here?" _And where on Aslan's green earth are the stable hands? _He reached up and pulled the bundle in the boy's arms off the saddle, cradling the girl in his arms bridal style in an attempt to keep from jarring her much.

"No time. Get her to a medic now, Peter." Susan nearly screeched.

"Going." Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he sprinted as quickly as he dared out of the stables. He felt slightly guilty at the boy's look of protest at being separated from the girl, but trusted his sisters to diffuse the situation.

He burst through the closest doors to the castle, startling a few courtiers, before calling out to the closest guards. "I need two of you to go out to the stables. The queens are there with a wounded boy, but a stranger nonetheless. Escort them to the medic and make sure the queens are safe."Hardly waiting for them to nod, Peter continued his sprint to the Southern wing of the castle and to the medical ward.

He was immediately attended by two fauns who led him to lay the girl in a cot.

"What happened?" the first asked.

"I'm not sure."

"It looks like she's been mauled- my guess is wolves from the looks of it. She's got some blood loss, but not too severe." the second pointed out as she peeled back Lucy's cloak from where it was covering the girl's raw wounds. "Mild case of hypothermia and a sprained ankle."

Peter nodded and turned toward the door, catching a glimpse of the others heading into another nearby room. Lucy turned from them and headed toward him.

"How is she?" the brunette asked.

"Blood loss, mild hypothermia, and hurt ankle. What happened to the two of them?"

"Su and I were out picking berries when we heard screaming. We followed the sound to them. They were being attacked by three wolves. I've no idea why they were this close to the castle, but Susan, Doron and I took them out pretty quickly. She collapsed not long after he helped her up."

Peter gave a short nod. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Only that he cares a great deal for her. That's about it. He's been crying since the attack." his youngest sibling responded. "She was crying before that, mostly from pain. He was trying to beat the wolves off of her with a stick when we got there, but they were slightly outnumbered and he was attacked when he tried."

Peter shook his head this time, understanding that it must have been terribly scary for the two, particularly with their best weapon being a stick. He sighed and turned back to the other occupants of the room. The girl had been bandaged and covered with a blanket to retain her body heat and try to get it back up to normal levels.

Her matted black curls spread out around her face, wet from the melted snow and blood that was crusting into it. Her face held a grimace that spoke of the pain she was in and her right hand clutched the blanket fiercely.

"When will she wake?" Lucy asked.

"Any moment now, Your Majesty." one responded. "She'll need a good hair washing, but other than that she'll just need to use a wash cloth for any bath. You don't want to mess with the bandages, or get them wet, for now or it'll hinder the healing of the wounds. If you'll bring her back tomorrow, we'll be glad to redress her bandages. Until then, she's free to go."

The two fauns bowed and left the room.

"Perhaps I should go check on the boy." Peter suggested, but before he was out the door, the sound of groaning greeted him. He spun around as the girl's eyes flickered open and she sat up with a hiss of pain.

The three just stared at each other for a moment. Both the Pevensie children present were stunned speechless. Not because the girl looked particularly beautiful in her ragged state, but because of the color of her eyes. Never before had they seen eyes of such a radiant purple, or of any shade of purple for that matter.

"Where am I?" the girl asked hesitantly as she slid her legs around to the edge of the cot. She seemed to have taken a moment before her mind had been able to gather it's thoughts. She painstakingly moved to wrap the warm blanket around herself while waiting for the response. "Where am I? Where is Isaiah? What have you done with him?" her voice raised in pitch as panic threatened to seize her.

"It's alright. Everything's okay." Peter moved toward her in an attempt to reassure her. Her eyes grew wide and her expression looked guarded as she attempted to step down. She let out a soft cry of pain as she stood on her feet. She maintained balance for only a few short seconds before hurtling forward. Peter lunged forward as well and caught her, barely missing the bandage on her right upper arm as he did.

Instead of being grateful, the girl attempted to push him away. "Let go of me! Leave me alone!" she yelled.

"Calm down, we're trying to help."

"Peter, you're scaring her." Lucy warned.

The girl screamed at the top of her lungs and continued to pull away from him, but not making much headway due to the significant pain in each of her limbs. Seconds later, they heard a crash from a nearby room. And a surprised scream, obviously from Susan.

"Lu!" Peter yelled, just in time for her to move out of the way as the boy they'd helped, apparently named Isaiah if that was who the girl was referring to, barrelled into the room. He elbowed Peter in the chest with enough forced to throw him backward and caught his sister, holding her slightly behind her as Susan and the two guards flew into the room. The latter two unsheathed their swords and pointed them toward the boy, who looked around wildly for something to defend himself with and failing.

"Hold on!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs. "You, sheath your swords this instant! What do you think two unarmed and wounded people are going to do? You're only serving to frighten them!" The two followed her orders before she slowly approached the two frightened teenagers with a gentle smile. "I'm afraid we've frightened you. We mean you no harm, we only wanted to help by bandaging you up. My name is Queen Lucy and this is my sister, Queen Susan, along with my brother, High King Peter."

The two didn't respond, they only stared.

"I'm afraid we don't have the pleasure of knowing your names. Though your sister here said your name was Isaiah, is that right?"

The two began to visibly relax and Lucy's soft expression and words.

"Yes." Isaiah answered. "And this is Davina."

"It's very nice to meet you, Isaiah and Davina. I don't have to ask your relationship, for you are each the spitting image of the other, besides the eye color, of course."

"Please, sit down." Susan encouraged, now taking the opportunity to offer them a bit of comfort. After a moment's hesitation, the two took the nearest chairs to where they stood, though they still clasped hands.

"Now, Isaiah and Davina, where do you hail from and what brings you to Narnia?" Peter asked, still rubbing the sore spot where Isaiah had hit him. "I would guess you to be Telmarine or maybe Galmanian, but your skin is far too pale for that. And you most certainly aren't Calormene."

"Texas." Isaiah responded slowly. "What's Narnia?"

"Why, it's the country that you'r in, friend." Lucy responded. "Have you not even heard of us?"  
"I have never heard of Narnia."

"Texas?" Susan raised a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "The name sounds familiar, I believe it's from our world though. America, right?"  
Isaiah nodded.

"What do you mean, 'our world'?" Davina questioned, regaining her senses.

"We are from England, us and our other brother, King Edmund. We've lived here for close to a year now. Narnia is an entirely different world and my siblings and I rule it." Peter informed them.

Davina leaned forward and rubbed her temples.

"How about we show you to your rooms and we can talk more after you've gotten some food, rest, and had a bath?" Susan suggested. "You both look simply exhausted."

The two nodded, almost happily. Nothing sounded better to them at the moment.


	3. Getting Settled

_**Author's Note: Been working on this one all day and I'm glad to have finally turned it out. I really wanted to get this story moving already. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: The twins are mine. The Four are not. Pansa is also mine. Yay!**_

**Chapter 3- Getting Settled**

It was clear that the twins were extremely hesistant to be parted from one another. However, there really was nothing that could be done about that, seeing as both needed a good washing and a change of clothes. After many earnest promises that they would be reunited as soon as possible, they allowed themselves to be seperated- Isaiah following Peter as Davina was helped along by Susan and Lucy for the remainder of their walk.

At that point they were, thankfully, rather close to Susan's suite. Davina was clearly exhausted already and ready to relax.

A faun stood in front of her door and his face held a look of slight alarm at the wounded and barely dressed girl the queens were helping along. He hastily moved to open the door and offer his help in getting the girl inside. Susan sweetly told him that they would manage the rest of the way. Davina stared wide-eyed at the faun and the two queens knew it would probably be best to help her themselves until she got more accustomed to the less human-like creatures.

The girl quickly forgot her surprise at the strange creature at the entrance as she stepped into Susan's suite. The three took a left and moved through a sitting room before they found the actual bedroom, wherein a strange woman stood over the bed, smoothing the covers down.

The moment this woman saw the three stagger in, she let out a squeak of alarm.

"Oh, miladies, let me help!" she cried, turning a chair near the roaring fireplace a bit more toward their direction as they sat Davina into it. She pushed her closer to the fire after that and moved around to her front so the girl got a good glimpse of her.

She looked to be in her early twenties and her skin appeared to have a hint of blue and looked slightly transparent. Her eyes were a rich blue and her hair was what looked almost platinum blonde, braided down her back, finished off with a pink water lily just above her right ear. Her dress was a dark green color made up of what looked like extremely long strands of seaweed that reached her ankles and swished softly when she walked.

Looking at the women before her she suddenly realized how inappropriately dressed she was at the moment. In only a t-shirt and basketball shorts, she was woefully underdressed and likely appeared scandalous to everyone she'd already encountered. When she'd dressed for bed last night, she hadn't exactly been expecting to find herself in a whole new land meeting kings and queens and odd creatures.

Pulling her blanket more tightly around herself, she spoke before she'd even realized the words were tumbling out, "Great. I've got to look extremely inappropriate!"

The girl who'd identified herself as Queen Lucy bit back a chuckle. "I assure you, we are more worried for your injuries than your attire, my royal sister and I will search for a good dress for you while Pansa helps you wash.

Davina was whisked away, gently, by the woman who was now identified as Pansa and into the rather large bathroom. She was sponged off and cleaned before she could properly process what was going on- a fact she contributed to shock- and was brought back into the bedroom in a warm robe.

There she was seated in a chair and told that Pansa would wash her hair there. Queen Susan handed the woman a two foot wide silver tray that held what she assumed were hair products that the woman set aside. She then quickly

received a shock when Pansa began running her hands through her matted curls and her hair became wet wherever the woman touched. In less than a few minutes, her hair was soaked and the woman was pouring some type of shampoo that smelled of brown sugar onto her hands and lathering it into Davina's hair.

"Excuse me for asking," Davina finally spoke up softly. "But what are you?"

The woman laughed almost musically, "I am a naiad of the River Rush, one of the River god's daughters that has come to serve the Four."

"The Four?" she questioned hesitantly.

"My siblings and I." Lucy responded, nearly disappearing as she rummaged through the large wardrobe that held Susan's dresses. The piece of furniture looked large enough to swallow the young queen. "It's a sort of nickname many use when referring to us."

"Hmmm." Davina responded, brow furrowing. "But I thought there were only three of you."

"Oh, our brother, Edmund is in the Western Wood right now. He should be back in the next few days, though. You can meet him then."

Pansa squeezed the extra water from the raven black locks she'd been working with, but the water only returned to her body rather than falling into the basin below. Davina's hair was still wet, but only slightly damp now.

"If you'll excuse me, Your Majesties, milady." Pansa curtsied to all three of us as Susan and Lucy nodded in acknowledgement. The naiad shuffled out the door, hurrying on to whatever task it was that she was in need of completing.

"This one's perfect." Susan decided, pulling a gown from where she stood, also by the wardrobe. "You'll look stunning. What do you think?"

"It's beautiful." Davina answered honestly.

"Good. Let's help you get it on."

Due to the fact that she was still very weak and unsteady on her feet, she was very glad for the help. These girls seemed very nice and put her at ease with their tender natures. Still, she was still quite speechless. Thankfully, the younger queen was adept in filling the gaps of their lacking conversation.

"I think this dress will simply make your eyes pop. They're a beautiful color, by the way. I can't claim I've ever met anyone else with purple eyes before." Lucy chattered away. "Oh, I do hope it fits you! You're a bit bustier than Susan-"

"Lucy!" Susan reprimanded.

"But I think this should fit until we can have some new ones made for you."

"Thanks." Davina smiled softly. "And as for my eye color. I've never met anyone else with the same color either, even Isaiah's are different- green, instead."

"How strange." Susan said as she laced up the back.

Davina examined the dress that was now on her. It was mostly black, with white accents. The sleeves were long and close-fitting on her arms, the tip touched her middle knuckle, while underneath, it rounded out at the end of her wrist. A slit from her neckline to the bottom of her dress revealed the white underneath and the black pulled in at her waist before releasing just below that. White embroidered flowers were decorated by a few pearls sewn into the material.

"Oh this is too nice for me to wear." she said, eyes widening a it's beauty.

"I told you it would make your eyes pop." Lucy giggled.

"Nonsense." Susan told their guest, ignoring her sister's silliness. "You look beautiful. You are a guest of royalty and now you look the part." She soothed.  
Davina turned again to the mirror as Susan finished lacing her up and tied a bow with the remaining white ribbon. Lucy was right, the dress was tight across the bust, but not visibly so. She'd just have to get used to that. It was also a little tight on each arm, where her bandages were now hidden by material. Whatever balm her hosts had used seemed to be doing well, because she was in far less pain than she had been when she woke, though she was still hurting.

Her black hair was alread curling at the ends, now untangled, it reached halfway down her back- only a little bit shorter than the older queen's.

"Now that you're all clean and dressed, let's find you some food and get you back to your brother."

It wasn't far before they met up with the boys. Isaiah's black curls were wet and plastered to his forehead and he wore a beige tunic with brown leggings. His boots were an even darker brown and they reached up to his lower calves.

"You look quite fetching." Lucy remarked at his improved appearance. "I can really see the resemblance between you two now that you're not covered in blood."

"Very true." Peter remarked.

From that point, Davina was helped along by both her brother and High King Peter wrapping their arms around her waist. Peter being on her left, she was able to wrap her arm around his shoulder, but the wound on her right was too close to her shoulder for her to be able to do so. It was just as well, because she didn't want pain the wound on his own right shoulder.

_I would have a wound on every limb._ She thought with annoyance.

The flight of stairs they were taking ever so slowly was hurting the worst. Her right ankle throbbed mercilessly while the bite on her left thigh stung angrily. By the time they were halfway down, High King Peter let out a growl of frustration and proceeded in scooping her up into his arms.

"If you don't mind, Lady Davina, I believe we'll move much faster if I carry you instead." he said, smiling almost apologetically.

"Um-er-sure?"

Peter was right and their pace quickened substantially. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and clasped both of her hands together in order to keep her balance. While she was grateful for his service, she couldn't help feeling substantially awkward in being carried- and by a king, no less!

She couldn't have been more grateful when they reached the private dining hall less than five minutes later. The blonde boy, who looked her age, set her down in one of the five chairs at the table.

"Thank you... Your Majesty?" she said, again awkwardly. She wasn't certain as to how she was meant to conduct herself around royalty. One doesn't encounter much of it in Texas.

"You're welcome." he responded, seating himself while attempting to suppress a smirk at her expense. She bristled slightly, but prevented herself from showing any sign of his humor at her awkwardness having bothered her. She still didn't know these people well and didn't know if they were a tempermental bunch or what. She could be thrown in the dungeon just as quickly as she had been bandaged.

Isaiah pulled out the chair beside her and seated himself in it, according to Queen Susan's prodding. The food was already being brought out and Davina could feel her stomach tearing at itself to get at it. She wondered why she was this hungry. Sure, she hadn't eaten since dinner last night and it was an hour or so past what should have been lunchtime, but she felt famished. It took a minute for it to occur to her that her extreme hunger was likely a result of the morning's stresses and her body's need to recuperate.

She and her twin filled their plates with aromatic food while a faun came and poured some type of mead into their goblets. For the first few minutes, everyone was fairly silent as they ate, filling their empty stomachs with the rich and delicious foodstuffs.

It was Susan who finally spoke first. "So, how old are the two of you?" she asked.

Isaiah was the first to swallow what was currently in his mouth, though he grimaced as it stuck for a moment. "Sixteen, Queen Susan."

"Oh, there's no need to call us by our titles." she responded sweetly. "You are our friends now and when in our company we'd much appreciate it if you spoke to us as such."

Both raven-haired guests nodded.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality." Davina spoke now. "You really didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"We like you." Lucy responded. "Don't worry about it."

This made Davina smile. These three seemed nice enough and she was far less worried about one of them yelling, 'Off with her head!'.

It wasn't long before they had finished everything up and all their stomachs were quite content and full. Isaiah was the first to yawn, but it wasn't long before Davina was doing the same. Peter laughed amiably before showing them to a spare room, closer to his than his sisters'. The two had asked to be put in the same room for at least today. The royals had understood perfectly, it was a scary thing to be in a whole new world, and the two needed each other right now.

Peter had hardly closed the door when the two had collapsed on either side of the rather large bed and he could hear one of them snoring as he moved down the hall with a grin on his face.


	4. Late Night Visit

_**Author's note: Another chapter up, I must be on a roll! And I'm already working on Chapter 5, though I'll have to wait a day or so before I put it up. Can't have y'all getting to used to these frequent updates, now can I? Hope you enjoy the new chapter! **_

_**Disclaimer: Let's put it this way- if I owned the Pevensies, there would be far more than six books. **_

**Chapter 4- Late Night Visit**

Isaiah's eyes cracked open slowly. He blinked a few times, attempting to get his eyes adjusted to the light. His head hurt from crying, but he was otherwise comfortable in the large bed they'd been given. With a yawn, he pulled himself up into sitting position and looked over at his twin. She was lying on her stomach, arms wrapped firmly around her pillow, mouth wide open with a little dark spot of drool beneath. His lip curled slightly at that, but it was half a smile at the look of peacefulness on her face.

It was a far cry from last night. They'd fallen asleep moments after lunch and hadn't woken until well after dinner. Thankfully, they'd found one of the attendants had left them a tray with enough food to satisfy them for the night. It seemed they were just finishing it up when their minds really got the time to process what had happened the day before. They'd lost their parents- they were orphans now.

He wasn't quite sure which of them had started crying first. When he thought about it, it didn't really matter anyway. It wasn't long before they were both sobbing and he was holding his sister, rocking her back and forth in an attempt to give her some sense of safety and stability. They'd ended up falling asleep that way.

A knock on the door sounded and Davina moaned, pulling her covers over her head and curling into the fetal position. Isaiah blinked hard before realizing he probably needed to get that, so he hurried over to the door.

Lucy was standing there, apparently permanent smile plastered to her face.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, head cocking to the side a bit.

Isaiah gave a non-committal grunt, not wanting to sound rude by saying no, and opened the door further so the young queen could enter. She did so promptly, her light pink dress swishing behind her.

"What time is it?" he asked, attempting to stifle another yawn and failing.

"About six in the morning." she said after glancing out the balcony doors. "We don't have clocks here, so you'll have to learn to tell from the shadows and Ed says even those are different here, as opposed to our world. Of course that makes sense because the sun rises in the south here."

"It does?"

She gave a curt nod as she moved toward the wardrobe at one end of the room. "Hmmm. Looks like this one's your room." she said, gesturing to the men's clothing inside it. "Well, breakfast is in half an hour- so you'll want to get dressed. Should we wake her?"

"Have at it." he smiled at the young girl.

Lucy moved from her station by the wardrobe, where Isaiah replaced her in an effort to find his own clothes, and over to the side of the bed. Laying a hand on one of his sister's shoulders, she shook gently.

"Davina, wake up. I've got to show you to your room. Wake up, sleepyhead." she rambled.

Said sleepyhead woke with a confused scowl on her face that made Isaiah laugh. His laughter, being the loud (and as she referred to it- obnoxious) sort, caused her to jump and replace that scowl with a grimace as she jolted her healing limbs.

"Lucy." she finally murmured, pushing herself up off the bed.

"I see you slept in your dress." she laughed.

"Oh no." Davina's eyes went wide. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin it!"

"Don't worry, love." Lucy laughed, "You haven't ruined it at all. Now, let's get you to your room and into a much less wrinkled dress. Pansa should already be in your room. And Isaiah," she said, turning to him. "Peter should be sending a faun up to assist you this morning."

"Thanks." he responded.

"Now, let me show you your room, Davina."

* * *

Half an hour later, Isaiah was clothed in a green tunic, light brown leather jerkin, black leggings, and light brown boots. His hair had been combed but was still wet and thick in all it's curly glory.

"Rausen, do you know where my sister's room is?" he asked the faun attendant that Lucy had promised.

"No, sir." he responded, carefully remaking the bed the twins had slept in. "However, I can show you to the hall in which you will be dining with their Majesties."

"Alright then, I'd really appreciate that."

Less than ten minutes later, he was presented in the same private dining hall they'd eaten in the night before. Lucy and Peter were already seated, the latter picking at his toast.

"Susan'll see that you ate before everyone was here." Lucy was teasing.

"Well if she wouldn't take so long to get ready, I wouldn't be tempted to." he harrumphed. "Oh, good morning, Isaiah." he called upon seeing the new arrival.

Isaiah nodded in acknowledgment, wondering if he was actually supposed to bow or something. Neither king or queen seemed to care one way or the other, so he proceeded in taking his place at the table.

"Did you get plenty of sleep?" Peter asked, tearing another small bit of his toast and popping it into his mouth.

"Yes, I feel as if I've slept for days." he responded.

"Glad to hear it. It'll help those wounds you and your sister accumulated to heal faster."

Susan came in a few moments later and Davina wasn't long in joining them. The latter took her seat beside Isaiah and they all dug in.

"So, how exactly did the two of you end up in Narnia?" Peter asked as he swallowed one of his first bites.

"Our...uh...house." Davina seemed to be stumbling haphazardly through her words. "It caught on fire in the middle of..." she gulped, fighting back tears. "The night."

"We ran from it and into the woods. After a minute or so, we tripped and landed in snow. That's how we knew we weren't in Texas anymore." Isaiah took over, having a bit of a tighter reign on his emotions than his sister did. He decided to skip over their parents' death. There wasn't any need for their hosts to know.

"And the wolves? How did you manage to end up so close to Cair with them attacking you?" Susan questioned. "After the first few months of our rule, I thought they'd learned to stay away."

"I-I think they were after you." Davina responded this time. "They mentioned something about their queen's death and that they were avenging it. When they picked up mine and Isaiah's scent, mentioned you and Lucy were supposed to be picking berries that day."

"Oh, I wish you hadn't said that in front of Peter." Lucy mumbled under her breath, though loud enough that everyone heard it.

Peter stiffened at Davina's words, not even bothering with a glare at Lucy. "You'll be escorted by at least two guards next time you leave Cair Paravel."

"But Pete!" Lucy moaned.

"At least until winter is over."

"Oh, fine. At least there are only a few weeks left of it." she conceded, finishing up her meal. "Are the two of you finished? Would you like a tour 'round the castle grounds?"

"Sounds fun." Isaiah shrugged, pushing out his chair while his sister did the same.

* * *

The rest of the day was filled with exploring. Lucy was called away sometime after lunch for a meeting with the council (apparently a nosy sort and wanting to know every detail of the Cair's new guests), leaving the twins on an uninhibited journey.

"Oh goodness, I think I just died and went to heaven. Look at all these books!" Davina squealed excitedly as she moved through the door she'd just opened. Her brother followed her in shortly and she turned to him with excited eyes.

"Well, a castle's got to have a library, Vina." he responded, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"But there are so many!" she smiled, moving to touch them. Her eyes nearly glazed over at her excitement, but she blinked it away when she pulled out a volume at eye level. "Is Man a Myth? What kind of book is that for a country ruled by human?" she questioned, then her eyes grew wide. "They are humans, right?"

"Of course they are, Peter said they were from England."

"Oh." she replaced the book. "I wonder if that means there weren't always humans around here." she pondered, half to herself. She leaned heavily on her right leg as she perused the books in front of her. Thankfully, her sprained ankle had healed relatively quick, so she'd had a better time at moving about today. However, it was still irritating to have to limp her way around the castle grounds.

Finally finding a book that suited her, she moved over to the closest chair and sank into it with a gratifying sigh.

"Come on, I can't go any further. Get yourself a book and let's rest here."

Her brother groaned, but she knew he was just being difficult.

"What kind of book?"

"Well I got a history of Narnia. Not sure when it was because I don't rightly know what year it is now." Davina answered, cracking aforementioned book open. "I figure if we're likely to be staying here for a while, we need to know more about it."

Davina was quickly engrossed in her book, a retelling of the reign of Jadis, the White Witch. It was at least another ten minutes before her brother took the seat across from her and she was able to break her concentration.

"Found something suitable?" she teased.

He lifted the book so she could read the cover while he continued reading the interior. The title was Inhabitants of Narnia. He must have started reading while standing up, because he was already a few pages into it.

"Is it about the different creatures that live here besides humans?"

He gave a curt nod, "The first chapter's all about fauns."

They spent the rest of their afternoon in there, pouring through the two books they'd found. It was Susan who entered the room just as dusk was beginning to present itself through the window.

"There you are. We were afraid you'd gotten lost." she chuckled. "It's time for supper. You can borrow those books if you'd like."

"Thank you." Davina responded, sliding a the ribbon bookmark into it's place just before Isaiah helped her up.

"Did you find your books interesting?"

"Very." Davina responded, with a smile. "I was reading of how a witch named Jadis took power."

Susan's face darkened and Davina worried that she'd somehow offended their host. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that you may not want to speak that name very often. We and the rest of the Narnians are still recovering from the aftermath of her rule." the girl responded. "She was only defeated one year ago this Spring."

"Truly?" Davina said aloud, but mostly to herself.

The conversation seemed to die, none of them able to contrive a topic following that of the White Witch. So the three hurried through the hallways in relative silence.

* * *

That night, Davina slipped out of her dress with the help of Pansa and was given a fine nightgown to sleep in.

"Queen Susan has asked me to tell you that she's scheduled a dress fitting for you on the morrow, shortly after breakfast." the woman informed her as she hung the girl's dress on the folding screen in the corner. "She said you'd probably like some dresses of your own and ones that fit you a bit better than hers."

"Thank you."

"And there's a guard just outside your door if you need anything." she mentioned as she moved toward the door herself. "Goodnight, milady."

"Goodnight, Pansa." she told the naiad.

She moved to the desk in the corner and lit the candle that sat atop it. Pulling her book open, she wondered if the fact that a guard was stationed outside her door made her feel safer or like she was more at risk. She supposed she could trust whoever was out there and took comfort in the fact that Isaiah, and even Peter, were only just down the hall from her.

Finding the page where she'd left off, she quickly delved into a Narnia still ruled by evil.

* * *

Davina woke from her nightmare with a start. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she realized she'd fallen asleep atop her book and managed to melt half her candle. Replacing the ribbon bookmark in it's new place, she was just about to blow out her candle when her door creaked open.

"Who is it?" she called, pulling the robe she'd been wearing over her nightgown closer about her.

"Just me, milady." Pansa's voice flitted in.

"Oh, you scared me." Davina laughed, still half-awake. "What are you doing here this late?"

The naiad stepped into the room, leaving the door ajar behind her. "I'm afraid I forgot something." she said, moving closer.

Davina's heart thudded and she felt like something was terribly amiss, but was confused as to what.

"Where's the guard?"

"Sleeping."

A red flag went up in the pit of her stomach and she stumbled backward, knocking the chair over with a small thud. The look in Pansa's eye terrified her. She was no longer a sweet, harmless naiad, but someone more... dangerous.

"I think you should leave now." Davina's eyes were wide, looking for something she could grab. It was then she noticed someone else leaning against the door frame. Her heart quickened even faster.

"Is this the Prophesied One?" his deep voice questioned as he slunk through the door and closed it firmly behind him.

"Yes, love. It is."

"Then finish it."

At that moment, Pansa sprung forward and Davina barely managed to dodge the older naiad. However, she hadn't jumped far enough out of the way and Pansa managed to grab her arm on the way down. Her hand squeezed around the bite just below Davina's left elbow, causing wounded girl to scream.

"Shut her up!" the man near the doorway seemed to be getting a little jittery now.

"I'm working on it." Pansa growled, pinning Davina's shoulders down. She put one hand over the girl's mouth and the teen's eyes widened with panic as it turned to water, choking the air from her lungs.

Davina's legs and arms began flailing as she tried to fight for air, but no matter what she did- she couldn't hit Pansa at all. She tried to keep herself from swallowing the water, but it was forcing it's way down her throat.

"Get over here and help me." Pansa whispered harshly at her companion. "We don't have time for this. Just pierce her and take one of her eyes. It'll be easier than dragging her body anyway."

The man sheathed his sword and began to hurry toward the two women. Davina felt her eyes getting heavy and her brain shutting down. She wanted to fight it, but the pain in her lungs made her weak. Her movements were getting slower and she could hear herself whimpering slightly.

"She's almost gone. Wait a few more seconds." he said.

"Vina?" the door creaked open and Davina felt joy shoot through her heart as her brother poked his head in the door. "Oh God, Vina!" he yelled, now seeing her attackers. "Get away from my sister!"

He launched himself toward them, but that was the last thing she saw. Davina's eyes closed despite herself and everything went black.


	5. Return

_**Author's Note: Another chapter up and we're well on our way to continuing the revamping of Eyes of Purple. Funny how you can have nearly the whole story figured out, yet it's so hard to write a simple chapter sometimes.**_

_**Disclaimer: Vina and Isaiah are mine. The rest are property of a certain Clive Staples Lewis.**_

**Chapter 5- Return**

Isaiah dodged the man before him and dove at the girl on his sister. Their bodies collided and both hit the wall with a dull thud, but Davina didn't move, she just lay there motionless. Isaiah felt rage build up in his chest and let out an angry scream as he knocked the naiad away from him and scrambled toward his twin.

"Davina. Davina, wake up!"he yelled as he hurried to his feet. But the man he'd seen moments before came barreling at him, sword ready to impale him. Isaiah fell onto his back and grabbed the chair now laying on it's side, ignoring the protests of his wounded shoulder, and threw it over himself toward his assailant.

That managed to throw the man backward in time for Peter to come running into the room.

"What is going on in here?" He yelled, tired eyes wild as he took in the scene. His sword was unsheathed and the moment he spotted the other swordsman in the room, they were engaged in battle. A faun guard was behind him that hurried toward the naiad, pinning her against the wall with the tip of his sword.

"Vina! Vina!" Isaiah franticly screamed as he clambered over to where she lay. "She's not breathing!"

"Is there water on her face?" Peter yelled over his shoulder as he knocked his foe's sword from his hand and pinned him against the wall, blade on his neck.

"Yes."

"She's drowning."

Isaiah pressed his sister's nose close and exhaled into her mouth before pumping her chest a few times. He'd really only seen this done in movies and at the pool once when a five year old fell in the deep end.

"Am I doing it right?" he called, just before breathing into her mouth again.

"Yes, keep it going until she starts coughing."

"She'll die." the man under Peter's blade laughed. "Whether it be now or the next attack. She will die." Peter growled and pushed the blade closer to his neck. Isaiah continued a few more times before Davina started coughing weakly.

"Turn her over." Peter called.

Isaiah followed his instruction and Davina threw up what looked like nearly a gallon of water. It moved almost eerily across the ground and back into Pansa. Unfortunately, she used this distraction to her advantage and kicked the guard's feet out from under him. She ran across the room and grabbed onto the man Peter was guarding and before he could blink, she whispered a few words and the two disappeared.

Peter threw down his sword in anger. "Spellbinder." he hissed, before hurrying over to the two on the ground. Davina was still dry heaving and Isaiah was holding her carefully.

"We need to get you to a medic." Peter told her. She nodded as her breathing began to slow to a normal level and she fell back against Isaiah.

"They got away?" her voice was hoarse and she looked terrified.

"I'm afraid so."

* * *

Peter paced the length of the small infirmary room. His sisters had just rushed into the room and were now trying to do their best to comfort the twins that had dropped into their lives just yesterday. Technically two days ago since it was practically morning. His mind was going ninety miles an hour. Why would one of their staff try to kill their new guest? The poor girl was terrified and the brother was understandably tense. Peter hated that anyone would feel unsafe in his home and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Why were they attacking you?" he asked brusquely, turning to the girl. "We need to know any reason why someone would be after you."

"I-I don't know." she muttered, brow furrowed with worry. "I can't think of anything."

"Well think harder." he barked, feeling irritable in the early morning hours. "We have to know."

"I didn't do anything to them."

"You had to have done something!" he yelled, letting stress get the best of him as he slammed his fist against the wall a foot or so above her head.

"Back off!" Isaiah warned, standing up to face him, voice escalating along with Peter's.

"Stay out of this! Sit back down, immediately!"

"Don't you dare yell at my brother!" Davina screamed, eyes flashing as she tried to push herself up off the cot she was in.

"Quiet!" Susan commanded. "All of you, sit down now. I won't have this. You're all acting like children." Her motherly presence seemed to do it's job in calming the three. Peter and Isaiah sat down, neither breaking their glares at the other, while Davina lay back against the pillow she'd been leaning against.

"Now, Davina," Susan's gentle voice soothed. "Can you remember anything of significance they said? Take your time and think it through."

Peter watched as Davina closed her eyes to think.

"Pansa said something about taking one of my eyes once I was dead. She said it would be easier than dragging my body around."

"Okay," Lucy said, "So they needed your eye for something- as weird as that sounds. Anything else?"

Peter's brow furrowed. That meant this wasn't your average attempted murder, if you could ever call a murder average. This was for a reason beyond revenge for something, unless Pansa was a particularly spiteful naiad. That didn't seem to make sense.

"The man- he called me the Prophesied One."

"The what?" Peter sat up, brow furrowed.

"The Prophesied One." she repeated, looked into his eyes as if searching for an answer. "Do you know what that means?"  
He hopped to his feet and resumed his pacing again, mumbling under his breath as the gears in his mind turned rapidly. Of course there would be a prophesy about them. Hadn't there been a prophecy about himself and his siblings when they first came to Narnia? Why hadn't they considered the same for these two?

"Well?" Lucy questioned, patience thinning already.

"There was a prophecy about us, so there's probably one about them." Peter spoke aloud. "Lucy, weren't you going to go visit the Beavers tomorrow... er, today?" he received a nod from his youngest sister. "Ask them if they recall anything about it. Stop by Mr. Tumnus' while you're at it. I'll put some centaurs on it, they'll know where to look for any prophecies concerning them. Something that mentions purple eyes or twins- anything that could be connected with you two."

He was talking more to himself than anyone else now, but his siblings and the twins continued to watch him.

"She must be a threat to someone if they wanted her dead, but why didn't anyone attack Isaiah?" he mumbled. His head snapped up as he realized he was being watched and his brow furrowed. "I'm going to go speak to the centaurs. They're usually up at this hour."

He was halfway out the door, when he suddenly turned back around. "Two guards, Lucy!" he reminded her of their conversation the day before.

"But-"

"No arguments!" he called over his shoulder and was gone.

"Blast it all!" Lucy mumbled.

Susan shook her head dolefully as she watched her younger sister retreat on the heels of her older brother.

"Please excuse my brother for being so abrupt with you." she apologized. "We have all been on edge due to the winter season and with Edmund not being home the stress has escalated- especially for Peter."

Isaiah said nothing, but Davina was quick to put their hostess at ease. "I think we're all a little on edge after what's just happened."

Susan nodded, thankful for the girl's pleasant nature.

"What is your brother doing anyway? I remember you saying he was in the woods or something."

"Leading a scouting party in the Western Wood. There have been numerous accounts of Fell Beast sightings and/or attacks that needed to be investigated. Fell Beasts are those who allied with The White Witch during her reign."

"How old is he?" Isaiah asked.

"Fourteen. His birthday was in August."

"Wow. He's so young for that type of dangerous work."

Susan shrugged. "It's our duty as rulers- we serve the people. They rely on us to keep them safe even when it places our own lives at risk."

"That's dedication." Isaiah murmured, almost admirably.

"Well, let's hope we get better at it, because we're not nearly as dedicated as we ought to be." Susan smiled, and after a few seconds added, "The nurse has said you are allowed to go. I have matters to attend to that prevent me from going back to sleep, but I encourage the two of you to get a few more hours in. These past few days have been very hard on you."

"Thank you, Susan. If you need me, I'll likely be sleeping in Isaiah's room." she said as her brother helped lift her off the bed.

"I understand entirely."

* * *

Peter hurried down the corridors of the home he'd grown so accustomed to, mind reeling. He wished he could ride out to talk to Edmund. It was funny how quickly they'd grown close since Jadis' rule, but the eldest brother didn't think he'd ever cease being grateful for it. Already he felt off-balance without the teenage boy who was nearly as tall as himself now.

He couldn't go see Edmund now, though. He didn't know where in Narnia his brother was, only a general direction, which would mean it would take a minimum of a few days just to find the boy, much less talk for a bit.

No, except in cases of battle and war, Narnia needed at least one king present in the Cair at all times. And now he most definitely couldn't leave his sister's while they had two strangers in the castle and one of them already having assassination attempts pulled on them. And according to the man in Davina's room, this was only the first.

Peter felt a headache coming on.

* * *

The next three days passed without incident or injury. The centaurs will still searching for any prophecies that might indicate the two newcomers, but nothing had been found as of yet. The twins were considerably less shaken up now, though still concerned. They did feel substantially more comfortable when Susan saw to it that both their guards and attendants were people the Four knew personally and could vouch for.

Davina yawned as she headed out of her room and toward the library. She had finally finished her book and decided she would find another before she met up with Lucy who wanted to show her around the royal gardens. The young queen was supposed to be in a meeting for the next hour or so, which meant she ought to have plenty of time to read something suitable. When she reached the sizable room, she placed her book back on the shelf she'd found it upon and began her quest for a new one. She'd already perused a full bookshelf before she heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

Lifting her head, she watched a coal-headed youth walk in with a faun at his side. He wore a brown tunic with black leggings and looked pretty worn out, as if he hadn't gotten quite enough sleep the night before. He was a young teen, only a few inches taller than herself and firmly built, a good smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose.

"Can you let the High King know I'll be defrosting until lunch is served, on your way there?" the boy asked with a slight grin.

The faun chuckled and bowed, departing quickly. Davina then noticed the silver circlet atop his head that looked quite like Peter's.

The boy looked up and caught her eye. He smiled in acknowledgment and it was then that she caught the resemblance he shared with his siblings, because this had to be King Edmund. He shared Lucy's eye color, almost piercing gaze, nose, and freckles. His hair was closer to Susan's coloring, though still darker, smile, and slightly slimmer build. Meanwhile, he had Peter's face structure and ears.

"King Edmund, I presume." she smiled, curtsying slightly, though feeling slightly awkward in the execution.

"And you must be one of the newcomers my brother and sisters spoke of. I'm sorry, I can't really remember your name." he smiled almost sheepishly.

"I'm Davina." she laughed, shelving the book she'd opened. "I heard you've been scouting the," she paused conjuring up the name she'd temporarily forgotten, "Western Wood. How did that go?"

"It was relatively fruitless." he responded, looking irritated at the fact. "Whatever activity that had been reported calmed down for the entirety of our three week journey. It was incredibly frustrating."

"I'm sorry."

There was an awkward pause for a moment, but Edmund recovered the conversation before it turned awkward.

"Are you looking for anything in particular? I quite have these shelves memorized by now." he queried.

"I have no idea what to look for, really. It's not like my favorite books are likely to be in here." Davina laughed. "I suppose I'd enjoy another Narnian history book or anything offering information on Narnia. It's odd being in a place that I know absolutely nothing about."

"I know the feeling." he laughed.

A few minutes later she found a suitable book and was on her way, happy with the one she and Edmund had chosen. It was one of his favorites- a history of the dryads and naiads since the reign of King Frank and Queen Helen. She had no doubt she would enjoy it herself.

She made it down the hallway when she ran into her brother.

"Well there you are, Vina! I thought you'd gotten lost again." he teased.

"Oh, shut up, you were lost too."

"Was not. I just didn't want you to feel bad."

"So you insist on making fun of me instead. Interesting tactic there, Sherlock." she rolled her eyes as she smacked him with the book she'd just gotten.

Isaiah made an indignant face and snatched the book out of her hand. He smacked her arm with it in retaliation, before sticking out his tongue and taking off in the other direction.

"You come back here right now!" she cried, spurring her own legs into action. She caught up with her twin as he tried to round a corner and instead of slowing down she intentionally ran into him at full speed, slamming them both into the opposite wall. Davina let out a loud scream as they did.

The pair fell onto the ground, both laughing, though both were smarting from the crash. Their wounds from the wolf attack less than a week ago were healing quickly, but not that quickly. Gritting her teeth, Davina got up, pushing her brother's head down by means of leverage, grabbed her book, and tried to make a run for it. Isaiah reached out and caught her ankle sending her sprawling again.

"You jerk-face!" she yelled, only half serious, as the book went sprawling and she started kicking at him. He was trying to grab her legs so they wouldn't give him a bloody lip and grabbed her wrist. She grabbed his hair with her free hand causing him to grimace.

Seconds later, Edmund came flying around the corner, pausing only for a second before he flew on top of Isaiah, the two immediately turning this into a fist fight.

Davina scrambled to her feet, confused by the sudden turn of events. The two boys were rolling across the ground, throwing punches at each other now. And while Isaiah was bigger than Edmund, the latter had far more training and practice, which was obvious.

"Stop! You'll hurt him!" Davina screamed, worried more for her brother than the king she'd just met.

"I'm fine." Edmund grunted.

"Just run, Vina!" Isaiah growled at the same time.

When what the other said registered to each, they rolled apart in a split second, looking at each other as if searching him out.

"You're not trying to kill her?" they asked each other simulatneously.

"King Edmund meet my twin, Isaiah. Isaiah meet King Edmund." Davina pronounced awkwardly. Both boys stood, Isaiah with the help of his twin. She grimaced at the black eye her brother was now forming, and winced at the bruise on Edmund's jaw.

After a long, and very awkward, silence, Edmund finally spoke again.

"Who's up for some lunch?"


	6. Results

_**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I know this is taking forever, but summer's been crazy awesome and real life is taking over right about now. Don't worry, I won't abandon y'all, though. I know this is short, but I thought you'd appreciate at least a little update.**_

_**The Last Airbender comes out tomorrow night, y'all! And my friends and I are dressing up for it! :P Yes, when we graduated, we returned to the age of five. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Edmund, Tumnus, Lucy, Peter, or Susan. Davina and Isaiah are the pretty rock awesome spawns of my imagination, though.**_

**Chapter 6- Results**

Edmund hesitated for a half second before pushing open the double doors that lead into their private dining hall. He was embarrassed, having already gotten into a fist fight with one of their guests before 'hello''s had even been exchanged. He grimaced as he entered the room, already well aware of his siblings' reactions.

Isaiah and Davina were following closely behind him, likely even more agitated than he was. Susan had informed him of his brother's 'confrontation' with the Kane twins and he knew they still weren't sure how to behave around the monarchs.

He had only made it halfway to his seat when Susan made a slight hissing sound as she sucked in a short burst of air. This caused Peter's overprotective head to rear and he nearly leapt to his feet the moment the bruise on his brother was spotted, along with Isaiah's quickly swelling eye.

"Before you overreact- no one attacked either of us. We're all safe. It was my fault." Edmund droned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he continued on to his seat.

Peter raised an eyebrow, wordlessly informing his brother that silence would not be tolerated. Surprisingly, Davina beat him in giving an explanation.

"Isaiah and I were wrestling in the hall and Edmund thought he was attacking me. He tackled Isaiah and they fought until they realized they were on the same side." she said, leaving it short and to the point.

Susan quietly asked the maid to bring the boys some ice for their wounds before returning to her meal with a mere shake of her head.

Edmund watched the girl eye his brother, as if daring the High King to lash out at her twin, but Peter merely shook his head, not even noticing the way her shoulders relaxed a bit when he did.

The younger king noticed, though, and set out to put their guests at ease.

"When is Lu supposed to be back, then?" he asked, barely waiting for his sentence to end before he shoved a forkful of his lunch into his waiting mouth.

"Early afternoon." Susan responded, taking a sip of her wine. "No doubt she'll take her time, particularly at Tumnus's."  
"Has anything been found out about the prophecy y'all are looking for?" Isaiah questioned.

"Not yet." Peter said, slowly shaking his head. "We have some of our best centaurs on it, but so far we can find nothing. In the meantime, we'll merely have to keep your security up and pray for no further attacks."

"And if one occurs?" Isaiah asked, quite abrasively.

Peter's eyebrow raised at the hint of a challenge, but Edmund jumped in before his older brother could retort, "Then we will be fully prepared to protect you and your sister. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe."

"Thank you, King Edmund." She responded, "That means alot to us."

He smiled ruefully as he recognized the muted signs of the girl elbowing her twin in the side for being so abrupt before. Aslan knew he'd received the same blow from Susan, and sometimes even Lucy, on numerous occasions.

The rest of the meal passed quickly and each excused themselves for their own activity. Edmund chose to tail his brother until they reached Peter's private study. Apparently, the seventeen year old was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice, because when the younger shut the door, the older jumped.

"Aslan, Peter, if an assassin had gotten in, you would've been dead before you had time to reach for Rhindon." Edmund smirked as he leaned his left shoulder against one of the sturdy bookcases in the room.

"I was thinking." Peter gave a fond roll of his eyes before sitting behind his desk, stifling a yawn.

"It seems our guests don't trust you, brother." Edmund pointed out, guessing the topic was at least close to the one plaguing his brother. Studying his face, the boy knew he was right. "And I see you don't trust them completely either. But that's not the point. They're our guests, we're supposed to make them feel welcome."

"I'm not trying to make them feel unwelcome, Ed." Peter sighed, leaning back. "I'm just stressed."

"Aren't we always nowadays?" Edmund laughed, only half-joking. "Just try going easy on them. They've been through alot and I'm sure the last thing they need is worry that the High King's going to turn on them."

"I'm sure they don't-"

"You, sir, are obviously as bad at reading body language as Lu always says." Edmund interrupted, giving his counterpart a knowing look. "Besides, Susan told me all about the other day and how your little outburst of anger nearly caused a fistfight in the medical ward."

"At least I didn't actually get into a fistfight with our guests." It was Peter's turn to smirk and Edmund glowered in response.

"That was an accident. And at least Isaiah doesn't look like he's ready to leap across the table every time I speak." Edmund sighed this time. "Just show him you're not an enemy and he'll cool down around you. Same with Davina- I think she's only tense around you because she worries that you're a threat to her brother."

"I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking." Edmund conceded, getting up to leave the room. "And while you're at it, add whatever charm it is that makes so many women swoon over you. Davina's quite a pretty lass."

"Oh, shut up, Ed."

"Just a suggestion."

* * *

It was only fifteen minutes later that Edmund was barrelled down by his youngest sister. The boy had been terribly disappointed that his baby sister hadn't been there to greet him when he returned from his trip, but he'd understood her errand.

Ever since the attack three days ago, she'd been frequenting Tumnus's home in order to see if any of his old records held anything referring to why the twins were being targetted. It wasn't as if Lucy had known he'd return today, so she couldn't be blamed in the slightest.

Therefore, this tackle that sent him landing painfully on his back was far more welcome than not. When their family referred to it's youngest member as their 'Beam of Sunshine', they truly meant it; and returning from camping out in the very weather that gave him constant nightmares caused her presence to be very much needed.

"Edmund! I'm so glad you're back!"

"I missed you too, Lucy!" Edmund laughed, holding tight to the girl he'd grown so close to in the last year.

"How was your time in the Western Wood? Did you meet any Fell Beast? Are your nightmares getting any better? Did you play in the snow or stay on Phillip whenever you were out? You know, I wish you'd at least try to enjoy the snow. I'm sure Aslan doesn't keep it around just to torture you."

"Hush, Lucy!" Edmund finally got a word in edgewise as she stopped for a breath. "Calm down. The trip wasx relatively uneventful. Whatever reports we'd heard about raids were either exaggerated or they've calmed down during our stay there. No, my nightmares haven't let up, but I'm controlling them. I don't remember the rest of the questions."

"Controlling them only means you've learnt to stop screaming in your sleep." Lucy said, standing up and dusting off her dress, while giving her brother a pointed look. "That doesn't make me feel any better at all."

Edmund growled under his breath. Susan or Peter would've thought that meant they were at least getting less intense. Lucy knew him too well for him to fool her in the slightest and it irked him to no end. He hated the idea of his family worrying about him.

"And how are you doing with our guests?" he asked, hoping to change the subject. "Peter seems to have gotten off on the wrong foot."

"That he has, brother." she responded, looping her arm into his and leaning her head against his bicep. "They're still afraid of him, but not in the usual way. They have more defiance in them, like they're ready to fight back."

"I like that about them." Edmund agreed. "It's much better than the simpering of those who cross the High King. I do so hate cowards."

Lucy laughed, reminding her older brother of a bell, and she nodded her head in agreement, though not bothering to respond aloud.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, as the two tended to do. It was a habit of theirs, when talking about everyday matters that did not necessitate privacy, to wander the halls, arm in arm, as they talked.

"Did you find anything on them while you were with Tumnus?" he asked after a few moments.

"Nothing." Lucy sighed. "We found the one about Corin's lost twin saving Archenland and another about Susan's horn bringing help. Even one about some boy being left behind and becoming king. Nothing about purple eyes or twins at all."

Edmund ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.

"We're going to best this threat, Lucy. I know that. I'm just afraid of what lies hidden along the journey."

"As we all are, Ed."


	7. Picnic

_**Disclaimer: I only own Davina and Isaiah. The four royals of Narnia are property of a certain C.S. Lewis. :)**_

**Chapter 7- Picnic**

The next day, Peter devised his plan to create less tension between himself and the twins. He'd paid more attention to the two at dinner the night before and had come to the conclusion that Edmund was right, which was becoming far too frequent an occurence as of late.

The seventeen year old was now making his way toward Davina's door, praying to Aslan that his plan wouldn't fail. He didn't want them thinking he was the bad guy anymore.

"Hello Seran." he greeted the guard as he knocked on the door to Davina's quarters. He heard a bit of shuffling in the room before Davina opened the door.

"Oh. Hello, Peter. Come on in." she pulled the door open for him while furrowing her brow as he sat on the couch across from the foot of her bed. "What brings you to my room? Did you figure out who wants me dead?"

"Regretfully, no. We haven't received anything new, but we've still got our eye on it." he responded as she seated herself on the trunk that sat just at the foot of the bed. He tried reading her body language again and determined that whatever ire she held toward him were a result of defending her brother, as Edmund had pointed out. Right now she appeared not to resent him too much. She seemed tense, but she was always tense around him. She was also confused by his being there, evidenced by the furrowing of her brow. Of course, he could be wrong seeing as Edmund and Lucy had both decided that he was horrible at the reading of body language and the two had made it a habit to always be right in such matters.

She unconsciously smoothed the dark green dress she wore that day. He had to admit that she looked quite beautiful in it, the green setting off her complexion and the color of her eyes nicely. The cut of her dress accentuated her curves and her black curls framed her face beautifully.

Davina coughed, whether out of her discomfort at the deafening silence or a tickle in her throat, he wasn't sure, but it brought him back to reality.

"Anyway, I actually came to invite you to a picnic with my family and I. It's the first picnic of spring and Lucy particularly can't wait to go traipsing about without having to wade through snow. It's nearly all gone, you know."

A smile lit up Davina's face in delight. "That sounds wonderful. When are we leaving?"

"Now, if you're ready. Susan went to inform Isaiah while Lucy and Edmund ought to be done making the preparations needed for the excursion." he smiled in return.

Davina sprung from her seat and all but ran toward her armoir, seconds later she was pulling her boots on.

"It will be good to get out of the castle for a bit." she told him as she worked on the laces of her right leg. "I hate cold weather and I've gotten tired of being cooped up, even in a place so spacious as Cair Paravel."

"I completely understand. I think we're all itching for a chance to get out of here." he laughed. "And it'll be great to ride without biting cold whipping your face."

"So where are we holding this picnic? Will we have to walk far?" she asked as she laced up the other boot.

Peter stood to where he saw her green cloak, laying over her dressing screen, and pulled it into his hands before answering. "We're not walking, we're riding out there. It's just about ten to fifteen minutes on horseback, it's only just outside the castle gates."

"Oh." she responded, movements becoming slow as she tied the lace and stood, turning when he silently offered to help her get the cloak on. She snapped it herself and turned back in his direction. "But wouldn't you rather walk? Get the chance to stretch your legs a bit?" she asked as she took the arm which he'd offered and he led her into the hallway.

"Davina, being in the castle hasn't kept me from walking. I'd much rather ride. Besides, I'm quite hungry and would rather not delay our reaching the spot another fifteen to thirty minutes." he smiled. "Is there any particular reason you don't want to ride there?"

"No. I just prefer walking."

"You sound like Lucy. She's always vying to do the more difficult task just because it's an option."

The rest of the walk was silent with Peter feeling already like his plan would be a success. Davina didn't seem to have too much trouble talking with him so far, maybe it would go just as smoothly with Isaiah. He couldn't exactly call them all buddies just yet, but he hoped they were getting there.

When they reached the stables, Susan, Isaiah, Lucy, and Edmund were already saddled and ready for the short trip.

"Finally." Edmund grumbled, collapsing dramatically backward on Phillips back. "I'm starving."  
"As if that's news." Susan remarked, earning her a glare from her brother.

"We'll go saddle up and be right out." Peter remarked with an eye roll, entering the stable shortly afterward with Davina on his heels.

He led his horse, a black stallion he'd dubbed Rochester, from his stable and began saddling him. He looked around for the reigns a moment, after he'd finished adjusting the stirrups, annoyed that once again the stable hands were nowhere to be found.

"Would you mind handing me those reigns?" he asked Davina, who happened to be standing near where his had been hung. She nodded and took them down, stepping around the front of the horse to hand to to him. He gratefully accepted them and began shrugging it onto the horses nose.

"Why don't you pick out a horse and start saddling him up?" he suggested as he worked.

"I wouldn't know where to start."

"On choosing a horse or saddling him up?"

"Both."

Peter gave her a sly look, smirk forming on his lips. "I thought you said you were from Texas."

"Yeah, I am." Davina responded, supressing a grin of her own as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That doesn't mean I spend all my time riding to school like a right regular cowgirl." her voice took on a southern twange as she reached one arm up and pretended to tip her hat. Peter laughed at her display.

She shifted her weight so she was leaning on one hip.

"In all honesty, I've no idea how to ride and I'm terrified of horses." she said, clearly feeling awkward and a bit childish about the admission. "I was thrown from a horse when I was six and broke my arm. I haven't dared to get on one again since."

Peter turned toward her as he finished adjusting Rochester's reigns. He put a hand to his chin as he watched her nervously bite her lip as she eyed one or two of the other horses in the stable.

"Here, how about you ride with me today. I promise I won't let you fall. You can even ride in the front so you'll feel safer." he finally suggested.

"Are you sure?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Of course. It's not like you're very tall, anyway. I'll be able to steer him with no trouble at all and if he happened to rear, which it's not likely he will, I'll keep you on the saddle."

She turned her skeptical eyes toward Rochester for a few moments before finally aquiescing and allowing Peter to help her onto the saddle. He swung up behind her seconds later and clicked his tongue, pulling gently on the strip of leather in his left hand to turn the animal in the direction he'd chosen.

The two emerged from the stable and began following the others as their horses trotted along the pathways of Cair. Isaiah had given his sister a bemused look at her slightly terrifiede face at having to ride, but had so far given Peter no more than a cold glance and no glare. The High King decided he was doing well at making amends so far.

They finally arrived at the area where the picnic was to be held and was glad to feel Davina's body relax as he pulled Rochester to a halt. The girl had been so tense the entire time that he worried she'd faint or something from the strain of it. Sliding down out of the saddle, he helped her down immediately afterward and the two turned toward where the others were.

Peter had to give it to Lucy, she sure knew how to choose a picnic sight. A small blue lake lay to his right, all manner of frogs and insects rushing about and making beautiful sounds. The lillies that normally dotted the hills in spring were nearly overwhelming in the clearing nearby. He could hardly see the grass for the white flowerheads that rose above them. Two large boulders near the lake would be their seating and dining arrangements, due to the fact that the ground was still too wet to actually sit on without ruining their clothes.

The trees enclose the clearing and lake in a circular fashion that made one feel like they were secluded, far from the prying eyes of the castle and their subjects. Like he said, Lucy sure knew how to pick 'em.

"It's beautiful." Davina commented in awe as they reached the others.

"Why thank you, Lady Davina." Lucy said, curtseying to her friend in an overly dramatic fashion. "I thought you might like it."

"I do." she laughed as her brother reached down a hand to help her up beside him on the boulder. She accepted his hand and sat beside him.

"What's on the menu today, then?" Edmund asked, seating himself on the other side of Davina while his two other sisters climbed up on the other boulder, only about a six or so inch gap between the two, with Peter's help.

Susan then produced a fair amount of soft bread, fresh meats, and other things they could make sandwiches from. They spent the next half hour eating together while they watched the fish glide through the area just beyond them.

It wasn't long before the boys were practicing swordsmanship, attempting to teach Isaiah a bit of what they knew. Isaiah had only been too excited to show his sister the sword Edmund had let him borrow and to inform her that he would soon be getting lessons in how to use it. Due to his excitement on the subject, they began practicing, but only after they'd collected as many lillies as Susan had convinced them to bring to them.

The girls, meanwhile, daisy-chained those lillies together in order to make crowns and bracelets and all other manner of thing that could be created by the white beauties. Since none of the Four were wearing their crowns (when they didn't allow the guard to come with them out of the castle gates, they didn't wear them in hopes that it would keep them safer than flaunting their royalty), they made one for each of them. Davina and Lucy even managed to convince the boys kneel while they crowned them with the lilly creations.

When they finished that, the girls even made broad necklaces to go around the horses' necks. It was during this time that Davina met Phillip and Sera. These were Edmund and Lucy's horses respectively and very wonderful conversationalists. Phillip even offered to teach Davina how to ride so she would get over her fear of horses and be able to ride a dumb beast with ease. She accepted the offer thankfully, knowing she would trust a Talking Horse much better than one that couldn't.

It was an hour or so later when Peter grudgingly informed the others that they all needed to return to the castle. He was sad to go, but happy due to the fact that he and Isaiah seemed to be getting along much better. He decided it wouldn't be long until they were all friends, which was exactly what he wanted.

As before, he helped Davina mount and them swung up behind her before heading out. He was happy to find that she wasn't nearly so tense this time as before.

"Isaiah, I'll race you home." Lucy challenged, a devilish glint in her eye as she turned toward him.

"Be prepared to lose, Your Highness." he responded, eyes narrowing in similiar mischief.

Peter smiled in their direction, eager to see who would take the lead when a whizzing sound followed by a grunt from Davina drew his attention. Her body jerked back against him as she hissed in pain. He looked over her shoulder only to find an arrow with black feathers protruding from her right lower abdomen.

Davina let out cry of pain as she clutched the skin around it, careful not to mess with the actual wound.

"Ambush!" Peter cried, wrapping an arm around Davina's waist a few inches above the wound to keep her balanced.

"Vina!" Isaiah yelled, eyes wide with panic in seeing his sister hurt.

Immediately the boys had drawn their swords, Susan her bow and arrows, and Lucy her dagger. Each combed the trees, feeling like open targets. They knew if they tried to gallop away, not only would it likely make Davina's wound worse, but it would likely get them a few arrows in their backs.

"What do you want?" Peter called into the trees, jaw clenching angrily.

"That arrow was meant for you, High King." a voice snaked it's way from the covering of foliage. "However, hitting the Prophesied One was good enough for me. Her arrival has been made known throughout Narnia and even the countries beyond."

"What is it about this girl that threatens you so much?" Edmund called back, his face also a mask of anger at seeing a friend hurt. "How do you even know she's the prophesied one?"

"Find me another with eyes of purple and I'll reconsider her death."

That last sentence was all that was necessary for Susan to find him. She released her arrow high into the trees on their right, only to hear a grunt and a sickening thud seconds later as the body hit the forest floor.

"Peter, go with the others and get Davina some medical attention. Susan and I will take care of the assassin."

Susan yanked out her horn and blew it, knowing that the castle guard would be out the gates in seconds. Peter nodded, eyeing the girl in his arms. She was leaning back against him now, face ghostlly pale as sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Be safe." he all but commanded them as he, Lucy, and Isaiah began making their way as quickly as possible toward the castle.


	8. Apology

_**Author's Note: I'm sorry for how long this has taken. Just started college and all that jazz. This week was even midterms, yet I decided to take a few hours today to update. Y'all should be grateful! Lol. :) How many of you can't wait for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to come out? I can't be the only one who cheers every time the trailer comes on. And it looks like they're going to do the Isle of Dreams the way I've always imagined it! Eepp! I can't wait!**_

_**For some people, Toy Story 3 was a culmination of their childhood. For me, it's Narnia!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Peter, Lucy, Edmund, or Susan. I do own Isaiah, Davina, Seran, and Sephorus, though. So hands off!**_

**Chapter 8- Apology**

_"Put to rest  
What you thought of me  
While I clean this slate  
With the hands  
Of uncertainty.  
So let mercy come  
And wash away  
What I've done._

_-What I've Done by Linkin Park-_

When they reached the castle, Peter immediately pulled Davina into his arms bridal style and hurried inside without waiting for Lucy or Isaiah to catch up. Her face was even paler than before, if that was possible, and the dark red spot was spreading on the dark green fabric of her dress. He experienced a bit of deja vue as he carried her up to her room, much like he'd carried her upon her entrance to Narnia, exactly a week ago. Oh, the irony.

Davina leaned her head against the High King's chest as he hurried, thankful that he was being careful not to jar her injury further. In any other situation she would feel awkward right now, but all she could focus on at the moment was the pain and not letting it overwhelm her. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes as her teeth clamped down on her lip, wondering how on earth they were going to mend this.

"Seran, open the door immediately. Call for a healer!" she heard Peter cry out above her mere seconds before she found herself being lowered onto her bed. He gently lifted her head, placing a pillow beneath it before running over to the water basin on her vanity and pouring a glass of water for her.

"Here, drink this." he directed. She allowed him to help her slowly sit up while she sipped from the cup before he lowered her again.

Lucy came barrelling through the door seconds later, Isaiah hot on her heels.

"Peter, go get her a strip of leather to bite on. Isaiah, the healer will need warm water to clean the wound. Run to the kitchen and fetch that as well." she commanded, taking charge of the situation and closing the door quickly behind them. "Vina, how are you feeling?"

"Badly." she ground out, hands covering her face.

"We're going to remove the arrow as soon as the healer returns. After that, she'll numb it with a special herb which ought relieve most of the pain you're in before stitching it up. If you want, you can have some of my cordial. Usually Peter says to save it for mortal wounds, but in this case-"

"No, Lu." Davina ground out as she looked over at the younger girl. "I'll be fine. Save it for someone who needs it more than I do."

Lucy still looked uncertain, but nodded as she pulled out her dagger.

"I'm going to need to cut out the abdomen of the dress, just so you're aware." she stated as she pulled up some of the material at her waist and began cutting at it. "The dress is ruined anyway and this way the healer will be able to reach it better."

Lucy made quick work of the dress and just in time, too. The healer, a naiad by the name of Siphorus hurried in, her medical supplies in a large leather bag that swung at her hip. Seconds later a knock sounded and Lucy swapped with the naiad, answering the door while the healer got to work.

Lucy opened the door to Peter and Isaiah, the former holding his thick strap of leather while the latter carried two buckets of warm water.

"Come on in." Lucy stepped aside, holding the door wide for the two older boys. The moment he entered the room, Isaiah's face lost all color and he all but dropped the water buckets at the feet of the healer as he rushed to his sister's side.

"You doing okay, Vina?" he asked as he took a hold of the hand closest to him.

She nodded silently without bothering to open her eyes as Lucy placed a cold cloth on her forehead from the basin Peter had retrieved her drinking water from earlier.

Peter stood back, leaning against a nearby wall so he wouldn't be in the way, but close enough that he could offer assistance if the next few minutes required any. He had already given the strap to Lucy, who had in turn given it to the healer.

"Lady Davina, I'm going to have to remove the arrow by pulling it out. Here is a leather strap for you to bite on while I do so." Once Davina had it in her mouth, she continued. "I need you to relax your body in order to have the least amount of damage."

Before her she had even finished her sentence, she yanked the arrow from the girl's abdomen and immediately put pressure on the area now bleeding even more profusely than before. Davina's body jerked in reaction to the pain as a supressed scream came from her throat. Tears poured from her eyes as she closed them tightly, also squeezing Isaiah's hand with as much force as she could muster.

Peter turned his head away, pulling his sister into him, seeking solace in providing her comfort. He knew Lucy would later rebuke him for it, reminding him that she was studying medicine and could handle such things. However, he knew how hard it was for her to see a friend in pain like that. Beyond that, the thought that this could be one of his sisters with either Ed or himself holding their hand the way Isaiah was tore through him even more painfully than seeing his new friend in the situation. The mere idea had his stomach churning.

Fifteen minutes later and the stitching was finished. Davina looked exhausted and no one could blame her, she'd been through alot. Edmund and Susan had finally returned, both looking grim, but happy that Davina would soon be on the mend.

Siphorus called Edmund over a moment later to help him get Davina standing. She couldn't wrap the bandages around her midsection without the boys' help. They pulled both of her arms around their shoulders and helped her onto her feet with little complaining on her part, but all could see the pain written across her face as if in ink.

Lucy moved over and cut off the back half of the middle of her dress, continuing to hold the skirt portion up for her. The healer then lathered the wound with some sort of medicinal herb before pulling out the bandage and wrapping it around the girl's middle at least a dozen times before giving them the okay to lay her back down.

She was asleep in seconds, to the relief of all present.

"She'll need plenty of rest for her recuperation. One week of bed rest and another with limited mobility. After that, it likely won't heal fully for another month or so, but most activities will be open to her. For the next two weeks, though, just make sure her bandages are changed frequently and you administer this cream every time."

She went on to give a bit more detailed instructions to the queens before taking her leave. Lucy managed to convince Isaiah to wash up to be certain the wound wouldn't get infected and each of the others did the same. Susan proposed that someone watch over her at all times for the next few days at least, just as a precaution for her health. Peter volunteered. He didn't miss Isaiah's departing glare as he left, either.

Moving over to the bed, he felt the guilt was over him. The arrow had been intended for him, but this poor girl had taken the hit for him. This was his fault. She was wounded because of him. He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair, before looking down at her again.

His eye caught one of the white lillies that had formed the circlet she'd worn earlier and he reached down, gently easing it out of her hair and setting it on the bedside table where she'd be able to see it. She'd looked quite radiant with the crown of lillies this morning and he had to admit that Edmund had been right once again. She was a pretty lass.

* * *

The next few days rolled by quickly. Each new day brought more healing to Davina's punctured body. She was now able to sit up for a good amount of the day with little pain and had devoured the books Edmund had brought her to fill her spare time and Lucy had brought her knitting supplies after she'd found that Davina was quite skilled at it.

The constant oversight of her friends had ended, but they still kept up frequent visits and, of course, her brother was there far more often than most. Susan had arranged for the boy to take some lessons in dancing and other subjects she deemed worthy of his attention, and Edmund had started training him in mastering the sword. Even still, he spent as much of his free time as possible with Davina, informing her of everything that had transpired during the day.

Honestly, with her brother and each of the four monarchs making near daily visits, she felt like she was far more informed of the goings on of the castle than if she were up and about.

It had been five days since the accident and she was counting down until Lucy would give her permission to move about again.

A knock sounded on her door and a golden head peeped through. "May I come in?"

"You may." I responded with a smile, snapping her book closed just after putting in a piece of cloth to save her place. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to come check on you. How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat down in the chair beside her bed.

"Better. I think I'm healing up nicely. Lu says I'll have a nasty scar, but I don't mind to much. My first battle scar." she laughed. "If you don't count the bite marks on my shoulder." They were taking the longest of her wounds from the wolf attack to heal.

Peter didn't respond, but turned his head abruptly away and suddenly found the wall very interesting.

"Peter, what's wrong?" she asked, brow furrowing as she studied his face.

"Nothing." he gave shortly.

"Don't give me that." she scolded, eyes narrowing at him. She may have felt like she was treading dangerous ground in speaking like this to him a few days ago, but now she didn't care. Something was eating at him and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She hated seeing people upset and wouldn't just sit by while they festered in it, even if this person was the High King. "What's wrong?"

"It's my fault." he said, so quietly that she almost didn't catch it.

"What's your fault?"

"This!" he burst waving his hand at her. "Your being hurt."

Davina almost laughed, until deciding that it would likely get her in trouble with him. "Are you kidding? How on earth is this your fault?" she lifted an eyebrow.

Peter stood to his feet and ran a hand through his hair, pacing to the end of her bed and back.

"That arrow was intended for me, Davina. Not you!" He was yelling now, not at her, but more at himself. She could see his eyes getting wet with unshed tears. "Didn't you hear him? He wanted to kill me, not you! By the mane, if only I'd-"

Getting fed up with his beating himself up, she interjected, yelling right back at him. "If only you'd done what, Peter? Been psychic? Left me at the Cair? No one is responsible for this but the archer himself."

"You don't understand." Peter responded, getting quieter this time.

"No, you don't understand." Davina, still fuming, though, kept her voice loud. "You can't control everything, Peter." she took a deep breath as Peter watched her, not sure whether to be mad or thankful to her. She spoke more quietly this time. "There is no way you or anyone else could have prevented this injury, so stop blaming yourself for it. And if it helps, I'm glad it was me and not you." she smiled softly.

"Thanks." he whispered, a smile curling his own lips.

Just then, Isaiah came running in. "What the heck is going on in here? I heard yelling."

"It's nothing." Peter responded.

"I demand to know what happened. "Why were you yelling at my sister, you imbecile?"

Davina facepalmed herself. "Isaiah, shut up!"

"You have no right to speak to me that way." Peter bristled. No one got away with calling him an imbecile except his siblings.

"I'll speak to you any way I wants, especially after hearing you yell at my sister!"

Peter pulled himself up to his full height. "The matter is over."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is, Mr. High King. Look, you don't get to yell at her. She's my sister and it's your fault she's in here, stuck in bed in the first place."

Peter drew back as if he'd been physically slapped and Davina had enough.

"Isaiah Kane, if you don't shut your mouth right now-" she all but screamed.

He ignored her. "You could've gotten her killed! It was your stupid idea to go on that picnic anyway."

It was at that point that Davina reached them, having gotten out of bed, unnoticed by the two, and slapped her twin across the face with enough force to make him take a step back.

"What the-" he hissed.

"That's enough!" she ground out through her teeth, glaring at her brother with all the anger that boiled inside of her. "I've never seen you like this and I hope I never do again. I'm disgusted by the way you're acting. Get out."

Isaiah glared right back at her, but she could see her words had hit a mark. He stood resolutely.

"Get out!" she yelled. "And don't come back in until you've apologized both Peter and I. How could you treat anyone the way you're treating him?"

He turned on his heel and left with a huff.

The moment the door closed behind her, she leaned heavily against the wall, one arm wrapped around her middle loosely, and took a deep breath that hitched at the end. Peter laid a hand on her shoulder, which made her start and then cringe. She'd forgotten he was even in the room.

"You okay?" he asked, concern etched into his features.  
"I see why Sephorus didn't want me out of bed for another few days." she said slowly. "I'm sorry, I've never seen him act like that. I think all of this is just too much for him. First our parents die and now I keep getting nearly killed-"

"Your parents are dead?" he interrupted.

She sighed, blinking back the water that had filled her eyes after yelling at her brother. "The fire that burned down our house- they were in it."

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said softly.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you." he said as he gently led her back to her bed. "You didn't have to defend me."

"Actually, I did." she half-chuckled. "I had just gotten you to believe me that it wasn't your fault and he came in and ruined all my work. Beyond that, I can't stand seeing him act like that and I'd really enjoy seeing him be his usual kind self again."

He just smiled softly as he helped her into her bed. "I've got to go now, but I'm sure things will work out. Get some rest."


	9. Bonding with Ed

_**Author's Notes: I won't make excuses for my tardiness in writing. You all know it's writer's block anyway. However, I will ask a question for all of my Narnia-fanatic readers (much like myself). What did y'all think of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader? I came out with mixed feelings but an overall disappointment, alot of that likely stemming from the fact that it was my favorite of the books and I don't feel like they did it justice. Your thoughts?**_

_**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**_

**Chapter 9- Bonding with Ed**

It had been two days since her spat with Isaiah and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of her twin. So much the better, she supposed. It would give him time to think about the way he treated people. In the meantime, she was getting sorely tired of sitting in bed. Therefore, this morning she decided she would escape from her room. Tomorrow marked the day that she was formally allowed to leave her room, or have her 'limited mobility' as Sephorus had told them, but Davina couldn't wait another day. She had to get out of this blasted room!

So with great care, she slid from her bed, shimmied her way into a loose gown appropriate for meandering about the castle, and quickly pulled the loose ends of her hair into a braid. Next, she grabbed a cloth bag and slipped in a few pairs of knitting needles and a couple of skeins of yarn. Grabbing the crutch they'd already placed in her room to help with her mobility, she snuck down the hall.

Granted, sneaking was hard when you had to lean heavily against something, careful not to lose balance because your cry of pain would lead you back to imprisonment. Peter, Susan, and any servants who might know her by sight were her main concern. Running into them would invoke the most stern of reprimands. Lucy would be much the same, for she was deep into the study of medicines. Edmund could likely be bought into silence... she'd have to keep that one in mind. She wasn't sure how Isaiah would react, but though he was mad at her, concern would probably outweight it for the time being.

It took her nearly a half hour of panting and not a small amount of pain before she reached her destination. Going outside in this weather didn't appeal to her, but sitting somewhere she could gaze upon the Narnian landscape sounded splended.

Therefore, she soon found herself in an empty study, likely an overflow of the library, that was privy to a cozy fireplace, a variety of books, and a window so large she had to wonder at how the fireplace did any good at all. Yet, even with this large window, the room held a comfortable degree of warmth and she found herself glad for the comfort of the large chair she now snuggled into.

Pulling out her needles, she took considerable care in matching the size to the yarn and even tested out a few rows in a the two sizes she had trouble choosing between. Eventually deciding on pairing the larger of the two choices with a brilliant scarlet, she cast on and lost herself in her thoughts.

This whole Narnia business felt insane. Only weeks ago she'd been happily living with her family in Texas, with only the occasional drama at school. Now look at her! She was living in a castle, fast friends with the Kings and Queens of a strange land of talking animals, being hunted down by an unknown enemy because her purple eyes matched some sort of prophecy that was nowhere to be found. It was ridiculous.

Yet, this was her life, wasn't it?

At least, they'd ended up here and not in Calormen or something. Susan had told her about it a few days ago and though she referred to them in a somewhat favorable aspect, Davina could tell the Calormenes were not the type of people she wanted to spend any amount of time with.

The sound of her wooden needles clacking calmed her as she watched the waves lap against the beachfront. Halfway to the horizon, she marvelled as the mermaids danced and flipped above the water. It seemed their kind was always celebrating something.

"What are you doing in here?" a voice boomed behind her, suddenly, causing Davina to jump nearly three feet in the air. She gasped loudly, then hissed as the pain hit her side.

"Sorry," Edmund barely managed through the laughter that caused him to hold onto his middle. She only glared at him as the pain subsided and he sat in the chair a few feet from her. He wiped tears from his eyes and continued. "What are you doing in here, anyway? You're supposed to be in bed."

"Edmund, if you breathe a word-"

"Threatening your king? Not a very good idea," he waggled his eyebrows. "However, I'll let it slide this once. Relax. I won't tell Pete or Su. It's not like you're in the field working on your swordplay."

"Thanks."

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Knitting."

"I thought only grandmothers knit. It looks terribly boring," he pointed out, a mischevious smile spreading across his troublemaking face.

"For a 'just king', Ed, you sure have a habit of getting under peoples' skin," Davina pointed out, setting her needles into her lap.

"Just an observation." He raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I resent that," she raised an eyebrow, "It's not like you could do it anyway."

"Be reasonable, Vina. I could knit with my eyes closed."

"No, _I_ can knit with my eyes closed. You don't even know what a stitch looks like, much less how to make one."

Edmund grumbled and his eyes narrowed at her. She only smirked and picked her knitting back up, counting on the fourteen year-old king to go for the bait.

"Well, it can't be that hard. I'm certain I could do it."

"Oh, really?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow in his direction, never stilling her hands. "Prove it."

"Nice try. Very funny, Vina. I am not going to _knit_."

"And why not?"

The boy scoffed. "Why not? Come on, who ever heard of a man who could knit, much less a king?"

"Who ever heard of a magical wardrobe that lead to another world?" she droned. "And I'll have you know that a man invented knitting, thank you very much."

"I'm still not going to knit," he said, though she could see his resistance weakening.  
"Oh, I see," she teased. "You're afraid of what Peter would say, aren't you?"

He bit.

"Give me those needles," he growled.

Hook, line, and sinker.

She held in the laugh of victory that was dying to come out as she helped the boy get started, showing him how to hold his hands as he cast on, then how to form stitches in neat rows. At first, the young king stumbled over them, but he finally managed to gain control and his work was coming along nicely.

After an hour or so of talking while they worked, Davina brought the topic back to knitting.

"You're actually enjoying this, aren't you, Ed?"

"Vina, I swear, if you say one word-"

"Calm yourself, dude." she laughed. "I won't breathe a word. You have permission to slit my throat if I make a peep."

"Don't think I won't carry through on that," he playfully narrowed his eyes.

Looking up from his work, he started when he saw where the sun sat. "It's almost time for dinner, we've got to get you back to your room before Keira gets back and throws a fit." He was referring to her new maid.

Slipping both her and Ed's work into her cloth bag, she scowled at him. "And I was having such fun! Promise to knit with me again next time we're alone?"

He rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. "Fine."

In order to get her back before she was missed and they both got in trouble, Edmund proposed to carry her while she held both her crutch and bag. This turned out to work like a charm and they made it back to her room in a fourth of the time it would've taken her to do it on her own. Of course, even their short trip was filled with giggled and close-calls, even one case of Edmund getting smacked in the face with her crutch while trying to hide from Susan she she passed by. That last one almost blew it for them.

When she was safely back in her room, Edmund collapsed onto the chair, complaining about having to haul her over half the kingdom.

"Oh, I don't want to hear it, Ed. You can't be _that _weak."

That shut him up pretty quick, but then he was set onto another topic upon the threat of silence prevailing.

"We start dance lessons next week. Should be an interesting refresher course."

"Sounds like fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy it," she responded.

"I doubt it. Though, watching you and Isaiah trip all over your feet should be pretty fun to watch."

"What?" that caught her attention.

"Hasn't Lu told you about the ball, yet?"

At the blank look he got, he decided that was a definite no.

"It's all she talks about nowadays. Su, too. It's a wonder niether have said anything."

"We're expected to attend?" her voice raised a pitch or two higher. Edmund was revelling in it.

"As the guests of the majesties." he smirked. "Peter is expected to escort you and Susan will do the same for your brother. I'll be escorting Lu, as usual."

Her eyes shot wide and she swallowed audibly.

"Can't you dance?"

"I suppose that's what the dance lessons are for," she mused, calming herself. "Yeah, I can dance, but that's alot of pressure. When is this ball?"

"First day of Spring, the week after next. You'll have alot of catching up to do," he laughed.

She sighed, almost as if she was resigning herself to her fate. "Every girl dreams of going to a ball one day, I suppose. I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

"The girls always seem to."

"What? You don't like to dance?" she asked, surprised at his nearly gloomy tone of voice.  
"No, I like dancing well enough if it's with Lu or Su, or you, probably." he trailed off.

She smiled, knowingly. "Oh, it's the other girls you don't like."

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes dramatically, "They're just so giggly and obnoxious. And they drool all over Peter, which is fine by me, but then they do the same to me." He moaned loudly and threw his head backward.

Anyone who knew Edmund in even the slightest could tell the giggly girls were not his type. If Ed was going to fall for a girl one day, she'd be one with her head on right and enough brains to keep from losing her senses when she got a crush on someone.

"Well, you'd better save one of those dances for me, Edmund Pevensie."

"As long as you promise not to giggle," he smirked, standing up from where he sat as his eyes lit up with mischief. "I suspect I'll have to pry Peter from you first."

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief at the cheek this boy posessed.

"What did you just say?" she accused.

"Oh, nothing," he grinned as he dodged a pillow she just threw at him.

"If Peter heard what you just said-"

"What's that, Lucy? You need me?" he called, clearly pretending. "Sorry, Vina, I'm needed elsewhere."


	10. Resolution

_**Author's Note: Life's been crazy lately and the end of the schoolyear is probably the worst time for me to be working on this, yet I managed to crank out this chapter. School gets out in four and a half weeks, then it's off to Israel for two weeks on a missions trip! I can't wait!**_

_**Disclaimer: Only Davina, Isaiah, and Yessinia are mine! :)**_

**Chapter 10- Resolution**

Davina's "first day of freedom" had hardly been a success, in her opinion. Isaiah still gave her the silent/glaring treatment, her wound had still been obnoxiously painful, and nearly everyone had been busy.

Today was a better, though, in a certain way. Yes, Susan and Lucy were still chasing their own tails in their attempts to put together the ball- a one year anniversary of the defeat of the White Witch and the return of spring. Edmund was busy entertaining Isaiah by teaching him how to use snowballs as a means of practicing his dodging (useful, for when one is close with the monarchy, they're likely to have all manner of objects thrown at them- the most dangerous of these being arrows or daggers). It was the first step in her twin's training in learning how to fight. However, Peter had found himself in one of those rare occassions where the High King has time to relax a bit, at least for the time being.

So today, Peter had been kind enough to carry Davina to the study she'd occupied the two days previous to this one. From the large window, they could see the two boys doing their "snow training" and as Peter moved to take his seat, Edmund (nose cherry red from the cold) gave them a cheery wave.

Isaiah didn't bother to look up and Davina felt a pang of hurt shoot through her heart.

"It's good to see Ed enjoy the snow again, at least a little bit." Peter told her, watching his young sibling's face wrinkle in disgust at the powdery substance in his hand before he lobbed the snowball at Isaiah. It hit him in the leg as he tried to dodge. Edmund shook his head with a smile.

"I wouldn't call that 'enjoying' it."

"Point taken," the left side of Peter's mouth lifted in a near smile. "This is as close as you get nowadays when it comes to Edmund and snow. He used to love it. Now it turns his stomach."

Davina nodded sympathetically as he continued.

"To be honest, winter itself turns all of our stomachs now."

"I don't blame y'all. Jadis was terrible. I can't imagine having to face her. She makes my blood curdle just reading about her. You should be proud- the way you four eradicated her. No wonder the Narnians love y'all so deeply." Davina laid a hand on his shoulder and he gave a bitter smile in response.

Pulling her hand away gently, she wrapped her blanket back around herself a bit tighter. She couldn't help a little as one of Edmund's well-placed snowballs slammed into her brother's face.

"I just worry about Edmund," Peter sighed.

"You love your siblings alot." she smiled.

"And you love your brother alot." he turned, peering into her eyes. "The two of you need to fix things."

Davina closed her eyes for a few seconds, retreating into her mind. The separation between she and her brother hurt more than she could explain. They'd never gone more than a day of not speaking to each other. Neither of them were very skilled at holding grudges, but Isaiah seemed to have aquired some bitterness in the past few weeks. Of course, it's not like she could blame him. They were both hurting. Perhaps it helped him deal with his pain to blame it on Peter and now she was pulling the rug out from under him.

Whatever the reason their relationship had gone through this cold spell, it was ending today, whether Isaiah liked it or not.

"I know," she finally responded. "I can't stand it any longer. This ends today."

"Good."

Her time with Peter lasted another hour before it was time for their dance practice. Though she thought it very kind of Peter and Edmund, she was beginning to get tired of being carried around. Plus, she felt bad for Peter and his having to carry her down two flights of stairs while she silently pleaded that he wouldn't miss a step and send them sprawling.

The moment they entered the room, Davina could palpably feel her twin's irritation at their arrival and Peter gave her an understanding look as she bristled at her brother's reaction.

"How was training?" Lucy asked, looking down as she entered from the opposite side of the room. She wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist before taking it off. When no one answered her (Edmund was busy stuffing his face with a muffin one of the kitchen staff had brought him), she puffed an irritated sigh. "Isaiah, stop glaring at your sister and the High King. Answer my question. How was training?"

Edmund choked on his food and Peter hid a grin as he set Davina on the ground and walked with her to the window sill. "There's my sister for ya." he murmured.

Isaiah, looking a bit off-balance answered with a raised eyebrow at first, but then proceeded to fill her in. Davina listened with rapt attention, wanting to hear about his day, but knowing he would only shut her down if she asked. When Susan finally came bustling into the room, she was only a few minutes later than their dance instructor- a dryad by the name of Yessinia.

Today's dances were on learning two or three of the slower dances, though they only ended up having time to go through half of the third. Because of this, Davina was able to learn, taking breaks when necessary, and dancing with either Edmund or Peter. She was pleased with herself when she managed to get through the entire lesson with only three five minute rests.

When it ended, they were tired but happy with their progress. Yessinia told the twins that they would learn fast and they shouldn't worry about not being good enough. Davina silently thanked her parents for how they'd taught them ballroom dancing when they were kids. This wasn't exactly the same, but it had enough similarities that it was easier than learning from scratch.

* * *

Davina stormed into her twin's bedroom only an hour after dinner that night. "Storm" may not be the best way to describe her entrance, though. It was more a "thunderous shower" than a full-blown "thunderstorm", due to her injury of course.

"Isaiah Kane! I am sick and tired of you acting like a child! This is ridiculous! You've gone four days without speaking to me!"

"Get out of my room, Davina," was his surly response. He sat at his desk, scrawling furiously away at a sheet of paper.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Why do you think? You defended that- that man, and freaking slapped me!" He yelled, pushing back from his desk to face her, anger flashing in his eyes.

"And for good reason! You were being unreasonable!" she screamed back. "You blamed an innocent person for my pain- one who was already blaming himself!"

"Because it _was_ his fault!" Isaiah hissed.

"No, it was that archer's fault and you know it." she started quiet down. "No one else gets the blame."

She stopped and examined her brother's stony face. Was he really ready to sacrifice their relationship over this? How long would he let this chasm divide them?

"Fine. Wallow in your anger and unforgiveness, but as long as you treat Peter (or anyone else, for that matter) this way, you forfeit your relationship with your only sister." Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her brother, her twin, as he turned back toward his desk. "There are still people out there trying to kill me, Isaiah. Are you really willing to take the chance that they could succeed before we resolve this?"

Isaiah didn't move. She couldn't keep a choked sob from escaping her lips as she turned away and hurried out the door. She didn't see the tears forming in his eyes or the regret in his heart. Deep down, he knew she was right. He knew Peter had done nothing wrong, that he _had_ deserved the stern rebuke and slap his twin had given him. It just felt better, easier to blame someone he could direct that anger toward.

He started to stand and go after her when he heard a thud and a tear-filled cry from outside. His chair hit the ground in his frantic effort to get out the door and to his sister. When he saw her, laying on the ground where she'd fallen, holding her side, and cringing as she cried; he practically sprinted over.

"Davina, are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you open the wound back up?" he asked rapid-fire. She tried to push him away, but didn't succeed. "Davina, answer me!"

"M'fine." she grumbled, awkwardly trying to stop her tears. "Leave me alone."

Isaiah sighed in irritation. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. Peter didn't try to get you hurt and you were only defending someone who needed defending from me. I'm sorry."

Davina's face broke out in a wide smile, though awkwardly mixed with the tears and traces of pain as Isaiah pulled her onto her feet. She stood on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek, then leaned into his warm embrace, still holding her side tenderly as the pain began to subside.

"I missed you, brother."

"I missed you too, sis." he laughed.

"Hurray!" Lucy squealed, barrelling out from behind a corner and nearly causing the two to topple over in surprise. "Everyone's friends again!"

"Lucy! How long have you been back there?" Davina asked, faking anger at her young friend.

"The entire time," she responded, not phased at all by the violet-eyed girl. "Though Ed and I had to hold Pete and Su back when you fell. We knew Isaiah would come, but they were too worried. You wouldn't imagine how hard _that_ was."

"Lu!" Susan scolded as the other three came out from behind the same corner she'd been in. "You ratted us out!"

"She's right, though." Ed commented. "You two would've ruined the entire resolution of their argument if either of you had barged over and taken charge like usual. Since you didn't, everything has been resolved and we can go back to everyone getting along."

"It's not quite resolved yet," Davina corrected. "Isaiah still has an apology to make."

Knowing his sister was right, Isaiah walked over to Peter, awkwardly shuffling his feet as if trying to prolong the wait before he would have to humble himself. Davina only beamed in her encouragement of her brother. "Look, Peter, I'm sorry. I was wrong. The accident... wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have blamed you." He reached out a hand and the two clasped forearms agreeably.

"Apology accepted." Peter smiled.

"Now that that's been accomplished," Edmund declared loudly. "Isn't it time for dinner?"


	11. Dazzling

_**Author's Note: Today was FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! :P Oh, and I updated sooner than last time. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Davina and Chrishna.**_

**Chapter 11- Dazzling**

The next few days moved with an unforseen rapidity that kept everyone on their toes. Well, except Davina, who was still a sore and had to move much slower than the rest. The healer said her wound was healing beautifully and it wouldn't be long before it was entirely healed up. A scar would remain, but that didn't worry her much. In fact, she was rather amused that her "first battle wound" would scar so superbly.

Another picnic was planned within the palace walls, near the apple orchard in the west wing of the castle. This time, the small party had a wonderful time without anyone being wounded. Edmund joked about Peter's profound lack of skill when it came to dancing and Susan's inability to sing without sounding like a dying jackal, as he put it. Both were truth and all the much more irritating when one considered that Ed was proficiently talented in both areas. However, Susan could best him in archery or painting any day of the week and Peter was Narnia's champion when it came to mounted swordfighting.

Davina smiled as she watched their playful banter. In many families, that sort of teasing would lead to a great deal of fighting. But the Pevensies seemed to know which lines were okay to cross and which weren't.

"So Edmund is the only royal in Narnia who can carry a tune?" Isaiah queried, summarizing what he'd heard.

"Well, Lu's alright." Ed responded frankly. "No one winces when _she_ sings."

"Rude!" Lucy hit him in the back of the head with a roll. He snatched it off the picnic blanket and took a bite.

"It's not rude if it's true."

"Actually, it is." Davina rolled her eyes.

"Well, Susan's the one who brought it up. It's not like I decided to tout my abilities." he defended himself. "I'm just stating the facts."

Lucy pulled small white blooms off a nearby weed, dropping the tiny flowers onto her lap as she changed the subject, "When is yours and Isaiah's birthday?"

"When are y'all's?" Isaiah deflected the question.

"Well," Lucy responded, narrowing her eyes at him, yet answering anyway. "Peter's is June 5th. Susan- August 3rd. Edmund- August 26th. Mine is February 9th."

"Oh, so yours only just passed. That wasn't long ago at all." Davina expressed her interest as she added another stitch to her current knitting project. "How did y'all celebrate it?"

Lucy saw right through them- as always- "Stop dodging the question, Vina." She lifted her chin obstinately with a sassy look in her eyes.

"April 12th." she said with an overly-dramatic sigh.

"What?" all four royals fairly screeched.

"That's only two weeks after the ball!" Susan ran a hand through her hair, a nervous habit usually observed in her elder brother.

"See why we dodged the question now?" Davina laughed in a sing-songy voice.

"We don't want y'all worrying about it. It's not that big of a deal." Isaiah tried to soothe the somewhat panicked look on the two queens' faces.

"What do you want for your birthday?" Edmund questioned.

"Something simple." Davina responded for the two off them. The twins shared an exasperated look as their friends grew thoughtful.

The next morning marked the final dress fitting for the women. Each girl's dress had been designed not only to flatter the wearer in the best way possible, but also to compliment whomever it was tehy were being escorted by. Therefore, Peter and Davina's outfits were similar in color and somewhat in design; the same went for Isaiah and Susan as well as Edmund and Lucy.

Davina suppressed the urge to twirl as her skirts were smoothed down around her. The corset was tightened, but left much looser than usually customary, so as not to injure her further. Lucy and Siphorus, the healer, had already determined that she would wear the corset loosened, but a bit tight, in order to keep it protected. She would also have a layer or two of gauze to guard her wound from irritation by the edges of the corset itself.

"Lucy, you're exasperating the seamstress." Susan droned in irritation. Davina looked up in time to see Lucy's light green skirts swoosh to a stand-still. Apparently, _she_ hadn't bothered suppressing the twirling urge in herself.

"You can release your hair now, milady." Chrishna told Davina, voice crooning sweetly behind her. "What is your impression?"  
"Oh, it's dazzling," she exclaimed in wonder. Her dress was a creamy off-white with light brown and sky blue embroidery of flowers and leaves sprouting from her left hip and spreading across the bodice. The lower half of the material billowed out into a full skirt and the arms were bell sleeves that made her think of herself as looking quite akin to a dryad. She had no doubt that the circlet of sky blue flowers they would have her wear at the actual ball would further the effect.

Looking over at the two queens, she noticed both the similarities and the difference in all of their gowns. Susan's dress was lavender with dark brown and gold embroidery. Lucy's was a beautiful light green with tan and silver ebroidery throughout the design. The gold and silver in their clothing was meant to signify their positions in the royal family, of course, along with their crowns. Peter and Edmund's outfits would be much the same. Beyond that, though, their dresses were designed very much the same. The only other difference was the more elaborate nature of their embroidery, though it was still the same flower/leaves design.

Davina could hardly wait for the ball now and was far too curious as to what the boys' outfits would look like. The moment the seamstress moved away after altering the final bit of her gown, Davina swept herself into the twirl she'd wanted to indulge in, ignoring the rolling of Susan's eyes as she did.

* * *

Peter listened to the discourse Levmitt was giving him on their progress in searching for information concerning why Davina was being targeted. They had two teams tackling it. A group of centaurs were scouring the extensive records and the libraries in the the palace while another group of dryads were searching for even a tidbit of information from the populace. The first had found merely two references of the prophecy ("Daughter of Eve with eyes of purple,"), but not the actual prophecy itself. The latter group had only heard whispers of what they'd heard of the attacks on Davina's life.

"Thank you, Levmitt," the High King said. "Please deliver any further updates to my personal study." The faun bowed and made his exit while Peter continued on down the hallway, deep in thought on the matter. Without knowing the motive of Davina's pursuers, beyond seein her dead, he couldn't create an effective way of keeping her safe. At this point, so much as venturing outside of palace grounds could prove fatal for the girl.

With an annoyed sigh, he turned his thought toward happier matters. The Archenlandian envoy should be arriving soonest, their being the closest ally and their royals were becoming fast friends with them. At seven years of age, Prince Corin was a fireball of energy not readily put out. It would be good to see him again, even if the boy did tend to bring trouble with him.

He was still thinking of the Archenlandian royal family when he turned a corner and nearly tripped over Davina, who happened to be sitting in the middle of the hallway, the skirt of her dress spread in a circle around her, with her chin in her hands as she leaned over a book she'd laid on the floor to read.

"Vina?" he asked, half amused at her current state of being.

She looked up with both eyebrows raised. "Oh, Peter, it's you!" she laughed, closing her book and tucking it under one arm. "It's about time. I was getting rather bored."

"What on earth were you doing reading in the middle of the hallway?" Peter asked, giving her a hand and pulling her up. "You don't usually visit this wing of the castle."

"That's just it. I kinda got a little bit lost. I figured someone would chance upon me eventually, so I just sat down and read my book."

Peter couldn't help but have a hearty laugh at that. He remembered when he had first moved in to Cair Paravel. It had been a week after the defeat of the White Witch before they'd felt good enough to wander about, but once they started, they nearly got lost almost every day. One night, Susan had even shown up two hours late to dinner because she'd been gotten lost wandering through the Northern wing.

"You didn't have to wait long, I hope?"

"Who knows. I sure don't. I had no way of telling time, but it couldn't have been more than an hour."

"Well that's good."

"Where are you headed, then?" Davina asked before stifling a yawn.

"I like to take a stroll in the rose gardens before supper on most days, when the weather permits. Would you like to join me?" he told her, offering her his arm.

"I would be delighted to." she beamed.


	12. Indian Paintbrushes

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, indian paintbrushes, roses, orchids, or any other type of flower/already published book.**_

**Chapter 12- Indian Paintbrushes**

Davina hadn't gotten a proper look at the gardens since she'd moved into Cair Paravel- a fact that was obvious to anyone in view of her face at the moment. Right now, though, Peter was the only one looking at the half-stunned, half-awed expression currently displayed on the young woman's face. And all he could think of was how beautiful it was.

_Blast it all, Ed,_ he thought, trying to shake his thoughts loose, _If you hadn't pointed out the fact that she was pretty it would've taken me longer to notice and make me feel less like an awkward schoolboy right about now._

"What do you think of it?" he asked, managing to gain control of his tongue again.

"Oh, it's gorgeous!" she exclaimed, puling away from him to inspect a bunch of crimson climbing roses spilling over from an ivy-covered wall. "I adore flowers."

"I can tell," he laughed. "Which are your favorite? Roses?"

"No, those are too cliché, but they do come in second- just before tulips." she answered. "Orchids are my absolute favorite, though."

"Orchids?"

"Oh, right- Narnia. Hmm . . . I don't know what y'all call them. I guess I'll have to figure that out. Are tulips and roses the same here?"

"I don't rightly know, but I remember those well enough from our world. I've never been much for remembering the names of flowers in this world or that one, though."

"Figures." she laughed. "Which are your favorites, then?"

Peter took her hand and led her to the edges of the garden where the wildflowers were allowed to pop up freely. He picked a red one that he'd always felt held an unusual beauty. Petals of red spread from the green stem, with patches of white peeking out between them.

"Back home, they call these Indian Paintbrushes. I suppose you wouldn't know what they're called here, by any chance?"

"Not a clue," he smirked.

"Why am I not surprised?" She picked another and peered at it. "It's very beautiful."

"I'm glad you agree."

"My mom used to pick them en masse when they first bloomed in the summer. Isaiah and I would tease her mercilessly for loving weeds, but we both secretly enjoyed it. It always made spring that much more beautiful in our house."

"You must miss her terribly." Peter remarked as she took his arm again and they continued their little stroll.

She spun the little wildflower between her fingers as she pondered her answer.

"Yes, I do- in a way. It's funny, though. I feel as if this place has dulled it some." He saw her nose crinkle as she thought of it, clearly running it through in her mind. "Of course, it could also be the fact that my life has constatly been in danger here . . . . Still, I feel as if it's part of the magic of this place, ya know?"

"I can attest to both. Narnia seems to not give one much time for homesickness of anyone outside it. Perhaps because you're so quickly thrust in to danger. It does become rather distracting." he conceded.

"So what about you? What was your life like before Narnia?

He had to think about it for a few minutes. Dredging up memories of a time before he led armies and learned the art of diplomacy, it felt like it had been years since he'd been in England- rather than merely one. The memories were hard to reach- like pulling a muddy boot from the suction of a deep patch of mud. He had put quite an effort into the squishing and pulling before they could come freely.

"It was wartime when we left. Dad was a soldier and had been gone for months. He told me I was to take care of everyone for him while he was off. I think I took the job rather too seriously. But Mum needed me to help keep some semblence of order, because she already had a heavy enough load wondering if we'd live to see another day. Now I see that Ed and my squabbling only added more trouble to her worries. She spent half of her time trying to make sure Ed and I didn't knock the living daylights out of each other.

"That's another thing. Ed and I were rather . . . potent whenever put in the same room as one another. He didn't cope well with Dad's absence or my trying to fill his shoes. He tried to buck me with every breath. I thought I was making it better for everyone. We each only made it harder for each other.

"Ed will admit that he was rather a git, but then I was a monstrous prat; so there's no pointing fingers between us.

"Aslan's helped us a great deal, though. I do hope Mum's coping well enough without us. The air raids must be over now for sure, so she must realize we're missing. And now doubt the Professor has written to her of our disappearance."

He grew silent, internally praying that his father and mother, those loved ones whose memories seemed to be rapidly dimming in his mind, yet never far from his heart, would cling to one another and somehow know that their children are both happy and safe.

"A pity she's not here to see how well y'all get off now." Davina commented, now stopping to admire a purplish-blue lily. "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

"Yeah, that would've been grand. And I'm sure she would've liked you too." he smiled, seeing the way she blushed at the compliment. "What about your-"

Trumpets sounded from a distance and grew both closer and farther away as the sentries on the castle walls alerted the kingdom that guests were now arriving. As if on cue, a faun came skipping quickly across the garden, immediately apologizing for interrupting the lady and the High King during their stroll, but the Archenlandian royal party had been sighted and would be arriving on castle grounds within the hour.

As the faun lad trotted away with orders to be certain the guest chambers were ready, Peter turned back to his friend apologetically, "I am so sorry, Davina, but I have business I must attend to before they arrive. Perhaps we could finish this at a later point?"

"Certainly," she smiled. "Go prepare what you need to. I think I'll stay here until supper."

"I'll see you tonight, then." Peter smiled in response. He started to walk away, then turned back suddenly. "Oh, and watch out for Prince Corin. He's quite a handful."

"I'll keep that in mind." she responded with a smile, before turning back to the flowers.

Peter watched her for a moment, noting her genuine love for the beauty before her. She tucked the Indian Paintbrush behind her ear and looked down at the one he still had. He truly needed to confer with Susan about it's Narnian name . . . and about the orchids.

* * *

"They're here!" Lucy squealed, trying trying to contain her girlish excitement beneath a royal façade.

Peter couldn't help but smile at his younger sister's antics. The official greetings had already taken place and Corin had already managed to threaten the well-being of two courtiers.

Supper was now being servied in the sunroom overlooking the Eastern Sea for the Four and their guests. When the next envoy arrived, they would have to move to the Grand Hall, but for now they could enjoy the intimacy of close company together.

He seated himself across the table from his youngest sister, the two of them having arrived a bit later than the others and gave King Lune the honor of lifting a prayer to Aslan before they all dug in. Currently, Isaiah and Edmund were taking turns arm-wrestling with Corin (whom they were clearly going easy on) with Lucy playing referee. King Lune was asking Davina about her time in Narnia, no doubt throwing in subtle and well-humored hints of Archenland's superior beauty, as he's apt to do.

"It has been pretty eventful since I've arrived." she was saying. "I'm afraid I haven't gotten much opportunity to go beyond castle grounds."

"Unacceptable." he bellowed with a bright smile. "You must visit Owlwood, my dear, especially at this time of year. It may not be quite up to par with our Parina, but it's really such a lovely wooded area and the locals are nearly as lovely as the nature itself. Susan, we must venture there on the morrow, if you all aren't too busy."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Sir. At this point in time, it would be very unwise to allow Davina outside Cair Paravel. You may have heard about the recent attacks on her life?"

This caught Corin's attention immediately. The boy always had an ear tuned to pick up on news ofthis nature.

"I had heard something about there being a tad bit of trouble lately, but I had hoped it was nothing serious." King Lune seemed intrigued.

"Besides both Isaiah and Davina being attacked by Fell wolves when they arrived, Davina has been attacked within her quarters and is nearing the final stages of recovery from an arrow wound she received while picnicking with us a few weeks ago." Edmund explained fluidly.

"Wow!" Corin cried. "Can I see the scar?"

"Sorry, Lad," Ed laughed, "But it's on her stomach- almost exactly where mine is. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to see it."

Corin colored slightly, muttering about how very unlucky it all was.

"We're twinkies, then." Davina laughed.

"Twinkles?" Edmund took on a very bewildered expression and Isaiah burst out laughing at the misunderstanding. Davina sighed.

"I'll explain later."

"Well, I'm very sorry you've had such a rough go of it, love. I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt such a lovely young woman."

"Let us discuss something a bit less distressing, shall we?" Susan asked as she poured a tad more cream into her coffee. "It's turning me off of my supper."


	13. The High King's Lady

_**Author's Note: Well, life is a little hectic right now, but I also seem to be on a writing spree as of late. Apparently craziness brings out the writer in me. :P But seriously, these next couple of days are gonna be intense as we get packed and move back to France on Monday. Fun stuff! I'll try to update within the next week! :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I own quite a lot of characters in this chapter, so I'll just tell you who I don't own. Basically that would be Peter, Susan, Edmund, Prince Caspian (the first, not the one you were thinking), Corin, and King Lune. **_

**Chapter 13- The High King's Lady**

The next few days were filled with dance lessons, the arrival of foreign embassies, and Corin's antics- all of which stressed out the Four and their two guests beyond belief. Two days remained before the ball itself; and each day had it's own challenges. Between meals, the Four entertained scheduled meetings with different parties while still trying to run their own kingdom. Davina and Isaiah spent most of this time in their lessons, trying to catch up to everyone's level in dancing the Narnian jigs, as well as the more popular Galmanian, Telmarine, Archenlandian, and even Calormene dances. There were feasts or events each night, meant to entertain Narnia's guests.

Davina walked with Peter to his meeting with a Lord of one of the Lone Islands. She couldn't remember which. Her arm was interlocked with his while he told her a few things about the nation's trade and industry, but she found herself unable to focus well. She was exhausted and not particularly interested. If Lucy had been right, which she usually was, the Lord wouldn't speak much to her anyway. His sole interest would be the High King's attention.

She looked up at him as he spoke and considered her conflicting emotions for him. She couldn't deny that she had strong feelings for the High King. And that fact alone irritated her. He was stubborn, sometimes rude, and more than a little oblivious at times, but he was also strong, handsome, protective, and a born leader. He treated her with respect and didn't treat her like a subject, but as an equal. He loved his family more than himself and put his country above himself with selflessness.

She couldn't help but feel silly about feeling this way. I mean, how stereotypical was it for her to like him? Half the kingdom was in love with the man! Make that half the world. He was the High King of a beautiful country. Princesses were practically lining the hallways waiting for him to take notice of their beauty and their wealth.

She stiffened at the thought. Peter was her friend before anything else. She would even go so far as to consider him her best friend. She realized it was now her job to help protect him from exploitation by those who would do him harm. It was her job to protect him now, just as he had worked to protect her from the moment she arrived here.

"Rawr!" Corin screamed as he jumped out from the inside of a large armoir in the hallway. Peter flinched as Davina screamed, jumping backward and slightly behind Peter.

"I got you!" the boy laughed, clutching his small stomach as it bubbled over with laughter.

"Corin!" Davina yelled in irritation. "Go be annoying somewhere else!" she held a hand over her heart as if it would calm the rapid beating and slow her breathing. She noticed Peter pulling his hand away from the hilt of his sword as she looked down.

"Corin, what have we told you about jumping out at people?" Peter asked, also clearly irritated. "It's very rude and extremely impolite."

"Fine," Corin started to mope, realizing that neither of them found it funny. "You two are no fun."

"Why don't you go find King Edmund. Perhaps he'll have something to keep you entertained." Davina suggested.

The boy's face lit up at the name of his favorite monarch and he hurried off without further hesitation.

"He's going to murder you, you realize." Peter laughed when the seven year-old was gone.

"Ed will get over it." she laughed. "And we both know he enjoys the boy more than he cares to let on. I like Corin, but his scaring everyone stopped being funny after the first five times."

Peter nodded with a smile and a roll of his eyes, clearly agreeing with her.

The reach the Lord's quarters and Peter knocked. It wasn't long before they were swept up in conversation with the Lord Delairn and his wife, Renama.

". . . and Avra is producing more wine than ever before. It truly is a bountiful season for it's vineyards." he was saying.

_Oops._ Davina thought. _He rules all three islands. Glad I didn't say something stupid._

"That's wonderful. I am so glad to see your oversight of the islands has been so peaceful as of late. I had worried after hearing of the riots you had a few months ago." Peter responded.

"There's nothing to worry about there any longer, your Majesty," Lady Renama said proudly. "The leader of these riots was found and imprisoned and his followers dispersed."

"That's wonderful," Davina responded, then bit her tongue. She probably wasn't supposed to say anything. Then again, why would Peter have invited her if she couldn't speak. Wouldn't he have told her?

"Lady Davina's right- that is wonderful." Peter smiled.

She relaxed a little at that. They didn't seem irritated, so she probably hadn't broken some unwritten code of conduct when talking to those who are of a higher rank. Then again, being a close friend of the Kings and Queens of Narnia probably gave her some sort of standing that made it less offensive. She'd have to ask someone about that later.

"What about you, dear?" Lord Delairn asked, taking a sip of his wine. "It's been said that you come from the same world as His Majesty. Is this true?"

"Yes, sir." she responded. "Only I come from another country, America. The High King and his family are from England."

"Very interesting. And your countries are in an alliance?"

"Yes," Peter responded for her. "They are very much like Narnia and Archenland."

The meeting lasted only another half hour before Peter explained that he had important business to attend to. They said their goodbyes as they stood.

"It has been such a pleasure to meet you." Davina smiled as she and Lady Renama kissed one another on the cheek, as was customary.

"And I you."

Peter grasped arms with the Lord. "I look forward to speaking with you again during your stay in Cair Paravel."

"Thank you, your Majesty." he said as he let go. The Lord stepped back and bowed as his wife curtsied, side by side as they honored their High King. "It has been an honor speaking with you and your Lady."

Davina coughed out of surprise and Peter's eyes went wide.

"I think you are mistaken, sir." Davina pointed out discreetly, wondering if it was rude for her to correct him.

"You are not courting the High King?" Lady Renama seemed surprised.

"We're just friends." Davina responded.

"Best friends, but friends nonetheless." Peter added.

"Oh, well. Pardon my error." Lord Delairn laughed.

"All is excused."

When the two had cleared the area of the room, they were both silent for a few minutes. Davina couldn't help the broad smile on her face.

"What are you so smiley about?" Peter asked, eyebrow raised with a smirk of his own.

"You said I was your best friend."

"Well, King Lune is a nice guy, but hardly best friend material and Ed already claimed Isaiah."

"Oh, so I'm leftovers." she responded, shoving him playfully. "Don't I feel loved."

"I happen to like leftovers." Peter said, shoving her back.

"Psh. I think I'd rather spend time with Lucy, then." Davina held her head high and started to turn around. Peter's laugh boomed through the hallway.

"You know I'd pick you either way."

"You'd better." she smirked and took his arm again.

"Where to now?"

"Dinner."

"Awesome!" she laughed.

* * *

The next morning, Davina woke to something heavy on her back.

"Wha?" she questioned, barely coherent.

"It's only one more day until the ball!" Lucy said excitedly from where she sat on her back patiently.

"Lu," Davina groaned groggily. "Why are you sitting on me?"

The queen on her back shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea."

Davina rolled over, causing Lucy to fall backward on to the bed, and stood up beside it. "And _why_ did you wake me up?"

Lucy pushed herself up and used a hand to move her hair out of the way. "Because there's plenty to do today- starting with my filling you in on everyone here. That way you know who's worth your time and who to avoid as if Tash himself were standing in their place."

"Surely you didn't invite anyone that bad." Davina commented as she slipped out of her nightdress, her voice muffled by the material as she pulled it over her head.

"No, not nearly." Lucy laughed. "Still, you know it's worthwhile information."

"I'm sure it is."

"You'll never guess what I've decided." Lucy hummed while she waited for her friend to dress herself.

"And what's that?"

Davina breathed a sigh of relief as Lucy stood to help her with the back of her dress. Usually Keira was here to help, but Susan probably had her helping to prepare for the ball. "Isaiah and Susan must fall in love."

"What makes you think that?" Davina laughed.

"Probably the fact that they both scold me the same." she shrugged as she finished tying up the back.

"Isaiah scolded you?"

"He caught me eavesdropping on the Telmarine princesses." she answered. "I couldn't help it. I heard Edmund's name. Apparently they have quite the crush on him."

"Lucy!" Davina couldn't help but laugh. "No wonder."

"Tell me you wouldn't have done the same."

"That's not the point."

"It isn't?"

Davina sighed. "Of course I'd do the same, but that doesn't matter."

"I'm sure."

Davina moved to the mirror and checked her dress and hair. She decided she liked the dull red of the dress and the contrast it gave her complexion and hair, plus it downplayed her eyes so she'd likely get fewer questions about them. Deciding her hair didn't need much work, she grabbed a ruby studded clip and pulled back two large bits from the front, securing them at the back of her head so it would stay out of her face.

"You know, you're spending an awful lot of time with Peter lately." Lucy waggled her eyebrows in a way that brought the Just king to mind.

"When did you decide to play the matchmaker, Lu?" Davina moved out of the mirror's view and went back to the wardrobe to retrieve her slippers, keeping her face angled away from the Valiant queen so she wouldn't detect the creeping blush.

"Oh, come off it, Vina." Lucy huffed. "You know I'm right."

"So what if I am spending time with Peter?" Davina said, almost defensively. "He's my best friend."

"Ooh, you're _best_ friends now?" Lucy cooed.

"As are you, little miss crazy." Davina laughed as she plopped onto the bed next to her friend and pulled on the brown slippers that would match the belt around her middle.

"You're no fun." Lucy frowned.

"I'm ready now. I thought you wanted to fill me in on everyone."

"Let's go!" Lucy cried, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling her out the door so quickly Davina's head spun.

"Slow down, Lu!" Davina cried after a few moments of being dragged down the hall by the eleven year-old.

Lucy complied and lead her friend out to the garden. Davina couldn't call it crowded, because it was a very large garden and there was plenty of room for everyone. Still, it felt that way because she was used to seeing this area empty, with the exception of a Narnian or two. Right now there were at least twenty people on the large expanse.

Lucy lead them over to an empty bench beside a cluster of white rosebushes. "Look at that group over there." she jerked her head toward a gaggle of girls sitting around a spread out blanket. "The redhead's name is Countess Larena. She is currently courting the Duke of Archenland, Luneran, King Lune's youngest brother."

"How many siblings does King Lune have?" Davina asked.

"Three. He has an older sister, Luna, and younger brother named Lunas."

"That's not confusing at all." Davina commented dryly.

"I know. But for them it's a way of life. All nobility names their children like that, with few exceptions, and most Archenlanders follow their lead." Lucy explained. "In fact, they'll probably find the fact that you and Isaiah have such drastically different names quite odd."

"Lovely."

"Now, sitting next to Countess Larena is Arena, the daughter of the Lord of Galma. Galma is loyal to Narnia. The island was conquered before the White Witch. During her reign, Aslan appointed a steward to look over it while we were gone to protect it. That was Lord Nimran's father, Arena's grandfather." Lucy continued. "Arena's a sweet girl, but a little airy in the head, if you know what I mean. She twenty and beautiful, but Edmund's been the only one who can talk to her for more than five minutes without conversation dropping altogether in an entirely awkward fashion. And that's the longest he's gotten, too.

"The rest of the girls are their combined maidservants."

"I think I'm getting overwhelmed already." Davina commented, making Lucy laugh.

"Oh, this is nothing. Within the first two months of our reign we had to learn how to run a country while memorizing the name of hundreds of nobility. I thought I was going to die."

"Okay, well, what about those two under the cherry tree?" Davina asked, pointing out a couple sitting under it's shade. They both looked to be in their early twenties and of Spanish heritage. His hair was dark and hers a shade lighter blonde than Peter's. Their hands were entertwined as they spoke to one another. They were adorable together, she had to admit.

"That is Prince Caspian of Telmar and his wife, Princess Dahlia. Don't let them fool you. They look adorable, but they are the most arrogant people you will ever meet. She's very condescending and it gets really old, really quick." Lucy rolled her eyes, clearly remembering her own encounter with the two. "He thinks he's Aslan's gift to the world."

"I'll make sure to keep my distance."

"Oh, they probably won't let you, but if you're in the vicinity of my family we'll do our best to rescue you."

Davina couldn't help but laugh loudly at her friend and Lucy smiled, still insisting that she meant what she said. She was willing to bet her crown on the fact that even a stranger would take enough pity to save her if she was in conversation with either of them long enough.

"His father's a dear, though."


	14. Your Fault

_**Author's Note: Well my family and I have moved back to France. The jet lag is killer and the culture shock's annoying, but I suppose we'll get used to it again. I wrote this while I was supposed to be packing, but couldn't put it up until now. **_

_**Disclaimer: Let's see . . . Isaiah, Davina, and Tarkaan Erain are mine all mine!**_

**Chapter 14- Your Fault**

_It's not meant to be like this_

_Not what I planned at all_

_I don't want to feel like this_

_Oh, it's not meant to be like this_

_Not what I planned at all_

_I don't want to feel like this_

_So that makes it all your fault_

~Wait it Out by Imogen Heap~

Much of the day was spent this way- Lucy pointing out random noble persons and filling Davina in on each. Davina was certain she'd end up trying to be best friends with the worst of them and avoiding the best, all out of sheer confusion. Finally, they took a break to watch Edmund teach Isaiah swordfighting. They sat nearby with Corin, who was deeply enthralled.

"Look at his form!" the young prince gushed. "It's perfect! Edmund has only been fighting for a year and he's better than everyone!" It was clearly an exaggeration, but even Davina had to admit that he was doing quite a fantastic job of it.

"I'm glad he's the one teaching my brother, then." Davina laughed. "Do you know how to swordfight, Corin?"

"Not yet," he pouted. "Father says I still have another two years before I'm allowed to begin lessons. I think it's ridiculous, but he won't be persuaded. At least I'm rather good at knocking people down."

"Fighting isn't everything." Lucy reminded the younger boy. "It's a good thing to know and you'll likely come across the need to use it, especially being a member of the royal family, but you mustn't start fights where they aren't necessary."

"You sound like Father." he huffed and turned back to the action in front of him.

Davina pondered Lucy's words for a few moments before speaking.

"Lu, do you know how to fight?"

"Of course," she responded, not tearing her eyes away from the two sparring boys. "I've been learning archery for a few months now and have been trained in the art of daggers since I arrived here. My dagger was a gift from Father Christmas." she patted the sheath on her belt. "I always have it on me and usually one or two more. It's always good to have at least one weapon on you."

Corin turned and appraised the older girl with a new level of appreciation.

_Great, he's going to start hiding knives on his person._

Lucy seemed to be thinking the same thing and was quick to set the boy straight. "Only someone who's fully trained in daggers can carry sharp objects around on their person, so don't you dare try unless your father gives his approval."

"Aww." he moped.

"Why do you ask?" Lucy asked, turning back to her older friend.

"Well, I was thinking I should probably learn how to fight." she responded. "It's likely a good idea in general, but with my life tending to be under constant threat since my arrival here . . ."

"It's practically necessary." Lucy finished for her. "You should talk to Susan. She'd love to train you in archery."

"I don't think archery is much to my taste." Davina grimaced, remembering the arrow in her side. She'd been on the wrong end of it already and didn't think it was her type of weapon. "I was thinking more along the lines of swordplay."

"Then you'll need to talk to Peter. He could train you. He's even better than Ed." Davina chose to ignore the wink that accompanied Peter's name. "Would you like to learn daggers as well?"

"It sounds fun to me."

"Great. I'll be your teacher then."

It was decided there and the two soon went over to practice together. It was harder than Davina had expected, but she decided it was well worth learning. Lucy agreed, especially considering her refusal to learn archery. She needed a longer range fighting skill as well.

It was later that day when Davina decided to heed Lucy's advice and ask Peter about swordfighting.

She found Peter in one of the less crowded gardens, taking his evening stroll. He looked worn out and more harried than usual.

"You alright?" she asked, coming up beside him.

"I suppose so. Why do you ask?"

"You look tired." she commented, picking an orange flower and twisting it between her fingers. "Wanna tell me why?"

"No particular reason. There's just so much going on. I mean, we're still having to run a country while we entertain guests and plan events and it's all a bit overwhelming." he responded truthfully. "I guess I'm still not quite used to all this fuss."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered, making him smile as they turned a corner.

"None that I can think of at the moment, but I'll let you know if I come across anything."

"Seriously, Peter," she said, stopping him so he'd know she meant it. "I really do want to help, even after all the fuss. The four of you need all the help you can get."

"Thank you." he answered, looking sincerely grateful as they continued walking. Still, Davina wondered if he was just patronizing her, as he tended to do when it came to his role of High King. She sighed inwardly and decided she'd just ask Susan instead. That girl was the queen of delegation.

"A little sleep wouldn't do you much harm, either." she added, before noticing that they had passed the irises a few yards back. Susan had told her that they were called crystia here, but retained all the same properties of irises back home. "Just a moment, Peter."

She hurried back in that direction intent on taking one to put in her room. Both Susan and Peter had assured her that she could pick a few for herself if she so wished, though it was better to do it when the gardener wasn't around.

Reaching a hand out to grasp a stem that held at least eight blooms, she was surprised when another, more masculine hand reached it first.

"A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman." the man announced. She looked up and saw a rather handsome man, probably in his early twenties extending his hand to give her the flower.

"How original of you." she commented, finding it cheesy, though blushing slightly at the compliment.

He chuckled at her response. "I couldn't help myself. It was far too easy and very fitting."

"Thank you."

"I'm Tarkaan Erain." he said, extending a hand in greeting. She shook it.

"Lady Davina."

"Ah, one so lovely could only be a friend of the Narnian royal family." he smiled handsomely. "I do hope you will save me a dance tomorrow night."

"Of course." she answered politely, but feeling somewhat awkward. "Well, I'd better be going. The High King is waiting for me."

He looked over her shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow night then."

She hurried back to Peter who had been watching them.

"What was that about?" he questioned.

"He asked me for a dance tomorrow night." she responded, not able to hide her blush. She was both flattered and embarrassed. It was then that she remembered what she had planned to ask Peter about.

"So, Peter, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor."

"And what's that?" he asked as they continued to walk and she toyed with the iris in her hand.

"Would you teach me to swordfight? Lucy told me you'd make an excellent teacher."

"Why on earth would you need to swordfight?" he said, sounding entirely dismissing. She stopped again and turned to face him, brow furrowed.

"Why wouldn't I need to learn? I have no idea how to defend myself and I've already had three attempts on my life in little more than a month." she exclaimed. "That sounds like a good enough reason to me."

"And why not archery?" he seemed irritated and she didn't understand why. She wasn't asking all that much of him.

"I'm pretty sure I've had enough archery for my taste," she gestured toward where her arrow wound was concealed under her dress. "Lucy's already teaching me the technique for dagger throwing."

"I don't want you handling a sword. It's too dangerous."

"More dangerous than someone attacking me while I'm virtually defenseless." she asked, growing more and more irritated. "I'm not six, Peter. I can handle pointy objects."

"Ed, Isaiah, and I have protected you thus far. We can do it again. My army is ready to defend you at a moment's notice, as well."

"And what if you fail?"

"Are you questioning my skill and that of my army?" his voice was rising and he was definitely angry.

"They sure as hell aren't perfect and niether are you!" she responded, her own voice rising to match his.

"Davina, I said no and that's final."

They were getting weird looks now, but she ignored them. "With all due respect, if you don't teach me- I'll find someone else who will."

"You will not. This is my kingdom."

"You may be High King, Peter, but you don't control me, nor does it mean you get to decide the outcome of my life!"

"Actually, it does and you'd do best to remember it!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" she growled, violet eyes flashing.

"It means that this kingdom is ruled by my siblings and I! You are under our jurisdiction!"

"Lucy's the one who told me to come to you in the first place." she told him. The two were still shouting and had aquired a small audience. "And if that's how you're going to be, then maybe I don't want to be here!"

"Maybe I don't want you here!" he responded, his own blue eyes filled with rage.

Davina felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. How could he say something so cruel? Why would he say that? Her anger mixed with her hurt and she hit back the only way she knew how.

"You're no king." she hissed, quiet enough that he would be the only one to hear it. "You're just a pretender with a crown."

"Leave!" he yelled, face red and filled with hardly controlled anger. "Get out of my sight!"

"Gladly!"

She turned and hurried from the garden, ignoring the stares of those who had watched their little display. She struggled to keep herself from crying as she marched away. She refused to show weakness now. The moment she was out of his line of vision, though, the tears began to fall and she started running toward the privacy of her own room. Some best friend he turned out to be.

She was almost there when she ran headlong into Edmund, who stumbled backward at the impact. She hadn't seen him through the blur of tears.

"Whoa, Davina, are you okay?"

"M'fine." she answered quickly, before pushing away from him, running to her room, and slamming the door behind her.

Edmund saw her retreating form and his brow furrowed, wondering what had upset her so. He stood and debated whether or not he ought to follow her. Would it make things worse or better? He didn't manage to debate it for long. How could he walk away when he knew she was hurting? It was one of the things he hated about being the Just king. He always wanted to right peoples' wrongs and that wasn't always possible. In fact, he was often yelled at for interfering in others' affairs.

"I hate him!" he heard Davina's yell as he approached her bedroom. The sound of something soft hitting the wall told him she'd thrown her pillow. A moment later, the mattress creaked, like she was now sitting or laying on it. "That self-righteous idiot! Fine, if he doesn't want me here, I'll leave." she seethed.

He knocked gently. "Davina?"

"Go away, Edmund." she responded angrily, followed by a loud sniffle.

"Come on, Vina. What's wrong?"

"I said, leave me alone." That one sounded half-hearted. He nudged the door open and when she said nothing, entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Talk to me," he pleaded as she glared at him through her tears.

"Your brother's a jerk." she responded icily as he sat down beside her and began rubbing circles on her back.

"What happened?" he asked, wondering if Peter knew that whatever he'd done had caused her this much pain. He guessed not, since he hadn't come running to apologize yet.

She didn't speak for a few moments, her teeth biting down on her lower lip as she tried to quell her tears. Finally the dam broke and she started to sob.

"He said he didn't want me here."

He was shell-shocked at that revelation. His brother had said that? The two spent more time together than with anyone else. He was almost certain his brother was even starting to like her. The fourteen year old pulled Davina into a hug and she dampened his shirt with her tears as her body shook with silent sobs. Whatever Peter had said, he didn't mean it. No, Peter was far too fond of Davina- crush or not- to actually want her gone.

He almost asked if she could have been mistaken or misunderstood him before thinking better of it. That would only make her resent Edmund as well. He held her until she stopped crying, soothing her with comforting words and reminding her she was very much wanted in Cair Paravel.

When she stopped crying a few minutes later, she pulled away and apologized for unloading on him.

"Don't apologize. You're like a big sister to me and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Davina flashed him a wet smile. "And you're like the little brother I've always wanted."

"Thanks." he beamed as she gave him another hug. They were both quiet for a moment. "Are you ready to go to dinner?"

"No. Actually, I was wondering if you could have mine sent up to my room. I'd rather not see him just yet, ya know?" She asked.

"Of course. I can take my dinner up here too, if you need some company."

"That's sweet, Ed, but I think I'd rather be by myself right now."

He nodded and headed toward the door, understanding that she needed the solitude. He twisted the doorknob before turning back. "Don't leave, okay?" he said, with a hint of concern, remembering the threats uttered before he entered the room.

"I won't." she chuckled slightly. "Besides, it's not like I have anywhere else to go."


	15. Swallow

_**Disclaimer: I own Davina, Isaiah, Tarkaan Erain, and Isrith. The rest are property of a very awesome, Mr. C.S. Lewis.**_

**Chapter 15- Swallow**

_"So this is me swallowing my pride_

_Standing in front of you_

_Saying I'm sorry for that night."_

_~Back to December by Taylor Swift~_

Peter woke and immediately threw the covers back over his head. It was the day of the ball, his best friend was mad at him, he was mad at her, and everyone was going to be pushing and pulling at him until he collapsed in his bed again tonight. He shut his eyes tight, hoping to glean at least another few moments of blissful sleep.

He opened his eyes again, cursing Edmund for hogging all of the "sleeping-in genes" in their family. He jumped out of bed and swapped his trousers for a nicer pair before hurrying over to the pitcher of water by his bed. He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. His hair was sticking up all over the place and drool was crusted onto his right cheek.

Peter splashed water on his face just as his manservant, a faun named Insrith, entered the room. He carried a tray with toast, waffles, eggs, and an apple on it.

"Queen Susan said you'd want to take your breakfast in your room."

"Thank you, Insrith. You can set it on the table." he gestured to a thigh-high table set between two cushioned chairs across from his bed. The faun did as he was told, then stood by the door expectantly.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, your Majesty?" Peter hummed as he dried his face, then turned to his servant.

"No, nothing more is required of you this morning, Isrith. May the Lion bless you."

"And you, sir."

With that the faun was gone, likely off to do some bidding of Susan's who was in a royal frenzy today in preparation of the ball. No doubt Lucy would be sucked into her planning, as would they all if they didn't have enough to do. She knew better than to ask Peter, though, who already had more enough to attend to on a daily basis.

As if on cue, Lucy slipped demurely into his room.

"Lu?"

"What happened, Peter?" she asked, simply.

Immediately knowing what she was talking about, he bristled, but chose to play dumb. "I don't know you're talking about?" He sat down to his breakfast and began buttering a piece of toast.

She took ten quick steps and seated herself across from her brother, eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms.

"It's useless lying to me."

He knew she was right. He should have known one of his two youngest siblings would start playing peacemaker. He'd actually expected Edmund, though. He took a mouthful of toast and chomped at it as his thoughts churned.

He should have expected that they'd take her side. After all, she was the girl and not their sibling. Of course they wouldn't care that she had offended him or insulted him. He glowered at his toast as he took another bite and ignored his youngest sister.

"I'm not judging you," she sighed, looking like she really didn't want to have this conversation so early in the morning. "I just want to know what happened."

"What did _she_ tell you?" he spat.

Lucy drew back, eyes studying him as if he were a riddle to be solved.

"Nothing," she answered, cool and calculating. "You and Davina are the talk of the castle. Apparently the two of you made quite an interesting display yesterday in the gardens. Then Davina doesn't show up to dinner and you storm in looking like you're going to pummel the next person who speaks."

Peter cringes, knowing he's going to be getting funny looks for the rest of the day. _Yet another way she's managed to make today worse_. He groaned internally and replayed last night in his head while Lucy eyed him expectantly. After a night's rest and some food in his stomach, things looked different than they had before.

"I overreacted." he grimaced, washing down his toast with a swig of water. He set the chalice down and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh man, I overreacted."

Lucy sighed patted his hand. "You'll make it right."

And with that she was gone, no doubt off to get to work on the ball's preparations and leaving him to stew on his personal discovery.

Peter cursed and finished his breakfast in contemplative thought. He had been tired and angry, and yes, probably a little jealous of the exchange she'd had with the Tarkaan while she went back for that flower. He looked over at his bedside table and saw it sitting there. Even in his anger, he'd picked up the orchid she dropped when he told her to leave before heading back to his room. Now it sat in a small vase on his bedside table, waiting to be returned to it's rightful owner.

He shrugged on his shirt and slipped a vest over his shoulders. It was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

Davina had been whirled around the castle all day and her head was still spinning. Edmund had come up to her room not long after breakfast to check on her, which she greatly appreciated. She was still hurt and mad that Peter would treat her like that, much less say that he didn't want her there. She doubted that he really meant it. At least, she hoped he didn't. But it still hurt and she could hardly keep the tears from pricking her eyes every time she replayed their fight in her head.

After Edmund's visit, she'd been swept into motion by a frantic Susan and a Valiant queen who was just doing her best to keep up.

Davina already felt like taking a nap.

She had gone for last minute dance lessons with Isaiah, since the kings and queens were already rather proficient at the art, and helped Susan and a few other maids arrange the flowers in the dance hall. She had wrestled Edmund out of the training grounds so he could fetch his and the other boys' outfits for the night from the seamstresses. There, she had run into Tarkaan Erain again, who only served to heighten her agitation, but she managed to keep herself polite.

She sat on Susan's bed, feeling as if she hadn't stopped to take a breath even once today. Susan had promised coffee, but even that would have to be hurried. The Gentle queen was terrified that one of the girls would soil their dress before they walked into the room and that would be entirely unacceptable.

Lucy came in, cheeks flushed as she pushed the door open with her bum. She carried three dresses bridal style and smiled as she passed them out. After drinking the coffee which came up presently, the girls helped each other into their dresses.

Davina and Lucy looked at each other and flashed impish grins before proceeding to twirl in circles.

"Oh, seriously!" Susan threw up her hands. "Can you two act your age for once?" She pressed her lips together to hide a smile.

"Oh, come on, Su!" Davina laughed. "Just look at how. . . twirly they are!"

Lucy answered with a loud laugh and grabbed Susan's hand, twirling her about. Susan laughed and for a moment, they were three lovely pinwheels- cream, lavender, and light green- spinning in Susan's room. Finally, Susan stopped and rolled her eyes fondly.

"Yes, they're very twirly." she conceded. "Now would one of you sit down so I can fix your hair?"

Lucy's shoulder-legth hair was curled, with only two tendrils of hair from either side of her face pulled back so her hair would stay out of it, and her crown atop it. Lucy made a two-inch wide braid and wove it into a larger french braid on Susan. Her crown was set upon her own head before she went to fix Davina's hair last. She opted for an updo that would keep her thick hair out of her way. Susan set to fixing a bun on the top of her head and curled the tendrils that escaped and the bits that hung down around her face. Lastly, she set the circlet of sky blue flowers atop her head that matched the embroidery on her cream-colored dress.

A knock on the door signalled the arrival of the boys and they hurried out, anxious to keep their guests from waiting. Davina cringed inwardly, wishing she could have been escorted by her brother or Edmund, rather than the person she was currently feuding with.

"I won't let him ruin this for me." she whispered, then stepped out after the other two girls.

"You look beautiful, Davina." Peter said as she stepped into the hallway.

Davina frowned a little at the compliment, confused at his behavior. Not knowing how to respond, she chose to ignore it. She looked at the boys and had to admit that they all looked rather handsome themselves. Each had outfits with similar colors to the girls, accenting them perfectly. She'd have to tell the seamstresses what amazing work they'd done. Her eyes landed on her twin and she couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"You have a circlet too." she chuckled as she touched it the leaves that circled his head. They brought out the color of his eyes and she thought it looked nice. She was just surprised he'd actually worn it.

"Yeah, well yours looks better." he huffed, more for show than anything else.

"We could switch." she laughed. He rolled his eyes and offered Susan his arm.

When Peter did the same for her, she took it reluctantly, her insides warring. He leaned over as they hurried down the hallway at the fastest pace that Susan would allow.

"Look, I wanted to talk to you-" he started, but they were already at the entryway to the dance hall and Susan was shooting a glare at him over Isaiah's shoulder. As the hosts and hostesses of the ball, they were to be announced before the entire assembly.

A trumpet blast quieted the room she couldn't see yet and she heard a centaur bellow.

"Introducing. . . King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant!" The two stepped through the curtained entryway as her brother and Queen Susan moved forward.

"Sir Isaiah and Queen Susan the Gentle!"

This time, even she could hear whispers sweep through the crowd. Davina suddenly felt her stomach clench up at the prospect of stepping out in front of the entire ballroom. She clenched her fingers around Peter's arm and her eyes went wide.

"You'll do fine." Peter whispered, as if seeing into her thoughts, and he laid a hand on hers.

"High King Peter the Magnificent and Lady Davina!"

Davina took a deep breath and calmed her features before they stepped through. Peace washed over her and she calmly followed her escort in front of the platform that held the four thrones. There, Davina and Peter took the lead, with Susan and Isaiah behind them, Lucy and Edmund taking up the rear. The walked out to the middle of the dance floor and separated, girls on one side, each facing their escort.

The three boys bowed first and the girls responded with curtsies. Peter held his hand out to Davina and the moment she set her hand in his, knowing the other two girls were doing the same, the music began and she was swept into the opening dance.

"Vina," Peter started, pulling her in from the spin she'd just executed. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about yesterday." he bit his lower lip as he led her across the dance floor in a series of steps that were close to becoming second nature for the two of them. "I was upset and tired. I know that's no excuse for what I said, but I didn't mean a word of it. You mean so much to me and I hope you never stop being an important part of my life."

Davina looked into his eyes and knew his apology was sincere. Still, she was so angry and hurt. It bubbled up inside of her like tea that's been on too long. Her brow furrowed and she looked away. She kept her mouth shut because she knew she'd say something she would regret if she opened it right now.

"Vina? I'm really sorry." Peter said lamely. He sounded hurt, but she didn't look up to confirm it.

"You hurt me, Peter." she hissed, finally looking up into his eyes and glaring. "Do you even know how long I cried last night? Did you even lose a wink of sleep over our fight?"

He was silent and her anger poured out of her mouth.  
"One day you tell me I'm your best friend and the next you're yelling at me for nothing and then telling me you don't want me here." she felt a tear slide down her face as she looked away. The song ended and she huffed a sigh. "I don't know if I can forgive you yet, Peter. I just don't know."

She slipped into the crowd and left him standing there, looking like he was about to cry.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and quickly wiped away the tear's trail from before. She turned around to find Edmund.

Immediately, she threw her arms around the fourteen year-old's growing shoulders and he held her there until she looked up.

"Thanks."

He shrugged, "I figured you'd need a hug after talking to Peter. Did he apologize?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I thought he would."

Davina shuffled her feet. "I kinda blew up at him though." she grimaced. "I was so angry and, oh, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut and just told him I needed to think about it."

Edmund squeezed her shoulder and she nodded, recognizing his unspoken direction to go fix it. She knew he was right.

She found him dancing with one of the Telmarine princesses. Davina didn't even realize she was glaring at the girl until Lucy sidled up beside her and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Jealous much?" the eleven year-old flashed a Cheshire grin.

"I'm not jealous." Davina rolled her eyes.

Lucy snorted and Davina grit her teeth, determining to talk to her friend and be the one to apologize this time, when she was interrupted. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Davina turned around, fully prepared to tell Edmund that he needed to wait a moment, when she realized it wasn't him. Instead, Tarkaan Erain stood before her.

"May I have this dance, Lady Davina?"

Davina tried not to audibly sigh in frustration. "Yes, you may." She looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with Peter for half a second before the Tarkaan swept her into the dance. She'd just have to talk to him later.


	16. Seriously

_**Author's Note: Don't forget to review, y'all. They let me know what you think and that's priceless info for an author! **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Peter, Lucy, Edmund, or Susan. Neither do I own Prince Caspian, though I get to decide his personality. The rest are mine, though, and that makes me happy. :P**_

**Chapter 16- Seriously**

"And how is your night going, Lady Davina?" Tarkaan Erain asked as he pulled her up from a dip.

"Well enough," she lied through her teeth. "And yours?"

"Better now that I'm dancing with you." he smiled and Davina politely smiled back.

"Oh, was it so bad before?" she asked, wondering how many women actually fell for this kind of over-done flattery.

"No, no. Narnian hospitality is almost as fine as Calormen itself. You must come and see my homeland. You have not lived until you've seen the wonder of Tashbaan." he boasted, sending her into a twirl. "Perhaps you could visit my riverside home. We have quite an array of Calormene delicacies at our fingertips there."

"Well, I'd have to speak to their Majesties." she said. "And of course, my brother would have to escort me, anyway."

"Oh, of course." He smiled as the music ended. "They are all welcome as well!" He looked like he had a sour taste in his mouth, though.

Davina stepped back and curtsied. "Thank you for the dance, Tarkaan Erain."

"And you, Lady Davina."

It wasn't long before she was swept up in a dance by her twin, a few other men she didn't know, and Edmund. After her dance with him, she hurried over to one of the banquet tables, eager to ease the pang of hunger in her. Filling her plate with a hunk of bread, some cheese, and a few different types of meat, she leaned against a wall with her glass of mead in her hand and scanned the crowd for her favorite High King.

She found him sitting on his throne talking to Susan worriedly. He reached up to run a hand through his hair and stopped when his sister glared at him. Davina couldn't help but chuckle. She downed her food and sipped at her glass, before heading over in his direction.

She'd had a good time up to this point. She had always loved dancing and this was nothing like the awkward high school dances she remembered attending what felt like forever ago. The problem here wasn't finding a dance partner, it was finding respite. She knew she wouldn't have any trouble sleeping tonight.

She was halfway there when she was stopped by Prince Caspian and his wife.

_Seriously?_ She mentally facepalmed, but turned to acknowledge them.

"Lady Davina!" Princess Dahlia batted her eyelashes as she spoke. "I'm Princess Dahlia and this is my husband, Prince Caspian, crown prince of Telmar."

Davina curtsied in response. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Is this your first ball in Narnia?" the older princess asked.

"Yes. Actually it's my first ball ever." she admitted.

"Really?" Dahlia seemed shocked at the revelation. "Why, I've been attending balls since I was a child!"

"Yes, well, we don't have much occasion for balls where I hail from." _Not to mention, I wouldn't have had the standing to attend any that did occur. _Davina almost shrugged before remembering Susan's reprimand the last time she'd done it. Apparently, it was considered rude in "civilized" company.

"Oh, that must be terrible." she sighed. "I hear you've been staying with the Narnian royal family. How has that been?"

"Wonderful," Davina responded, keeping an eye on Peter out of the corner of her eye. Lucy had gone up and pulled him out of his thrown, no doubt begging for a dance. She hoped her young friend would let him know she'd been looking for him. "They've become close friends to my twin and I."

"I'm happy to hear it." Dahlia said, her laugh tinkling in through the grand hall. "I've heard that you and the High King aren't on the greatest terms right now, though?" She phrased it as a question, yet still gave Davina a knowing look, as if she had been privy to the entire ordeal. Davina bristled, but tried not to show it visibly. Whatever made this woman think that she had any business sticking her nose in Davina's personal affairs was beyond her.

"Just a spat between friends." she downplayed her fight with Peter. "We've settled the matter." That wasn't entirely untrue. She hoped to have the matter settled within the next ten minutes, if she could just get away from the prying Telmarine couple.

"That's lovely. We wouldn't want you and your brother there to be without house and home." her husband laughed with her this time and Davina's mouth nearly dropped open.

"Their Majesties would never do that to us." she nearly hissed.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Princess Dahlia's lips pressed together and she looked at her condescendingly. "You're a pretty girl, but in the grand scheme of things, replaceable." She patted Davina's cheek as she would a puppy's head.

This time, Davina's mouth did drop open at the audacity this woman possessed and she pulled her face away with an upturned eyebrow. Her right hand tingled and begged to slap the woman full across the face.

A tap on her shoulder saved her from doing, or saying, something that would start a feud that she might not be able to follow through with and she turned to answer it. A man in his late twenties with dark hair and eyes bowed pleasantly.

"May I have this dance, Milady?"

"You must excuse me." Davina said to the Telmarine couple she'd been conversing with. She gave them a tight-lipped smile before turning back to the man. "Of course." She curtsied and he drew her onto the dance floor. She would take any excuse to get away from those two.

Trying to shake off her anger, she looked up at her dance partner. "Thank you for that."

"Unpleasant conversation?" he asked with a laugh.

"You have no idea." she sighed. Apparently, Lucy had been right about strangers taking enough pity to rescue you when in the presence of the Telmarine Crown Prince and Princess. She knew the couple had at least two children, according to Lucy. Davina prayed they wouldn't turn out like their parents. Aslan help Telmar if they did.

There was a long silence as the two whirled their way around the dance hall.

Finally, "You're Lady Davina, right? The one whom was escorted by the High King?"

"That's me." she laughed. "Why?"

"I've just heard rumors," he hedged, almost shyly. "They say your eyes are purple. I didn't think they were true, but they do look somewhat violet-colored in this light."

"They're definitely purple." she responded. The two executed a more difficult part of the dance and then came together. "The rumors are true." she smirked.

"Good to know." he responded as the song ended. She realized they had moved almost all the way to the end of the hall and she was much farther from the the four thrones than before. Great, now it would be even harder to get to Peter. She sighed and pulled back from her dance partner, but his grip on her didn't loosen and her brow dipped as she looked up.

"Everything okay?" she asked, wondering if he hadn't realized she was trying to move.

"Everything's fine."

Suddenly the thumb of his right hand, the one he'd had on her hip, pressed down hard on her nearly healed arrow wound. Davina's mouth dropped open and she sucked in a greedy breath. Agony welled up in her as pain radiated from the now opening wound. She tried to push him away, but he just pushed harder. Another hand, from someone behind her, slid over her mouth just as she made to scream.

Davina felt darkness lapping at the edges of her vision as the second person's arm slid around her stomach and her dance partner let go of her wound. His thumb, and part of his palm, came away bloody. Bile rose in her throat unbidden as he wiped his hand on his thigh. That was _her _blood he was ridding himself of.

She tried to kick at him and struggled against the man who held her now as she was ushered out of the dance hall and into an adjoining hallway, but the pain made it hard for her to have any success at it. She tried to bite his hand and had no more luck with that.

Two more men joined her captors.

"Is this the girl?" one asked.

"Yeah, her eyes are purple, aren't they?" her dance partner answered with irritation.

"Someone get me a gag already. I need help. She's struggling too much."

One of the men laughed and joked that her captor couldn't handle a girl.

Davina didn't find it humorous.

One of the men came up and Davina only managed the smallest scream as they switched methods of muffling her voice.

The man with the gag finished tying her, then backhanded her with enough force to bring tears to her eyes.

"You'd do best to shut up." he hissed. She only glared at him and continued to struggle. He bound her hands in front of her stomach with a section of rope.

"We need to keep moving before she's missed."

"Are you kidding me?" another responded laughingly. "Did you see how big the dance hall was? It'll be hours before they notice anything."

Davina's heart sunk and she knew he was right. Her mind wandered to her brother's reaction when he learned she was gone. She hoped he wouldn't place the blame on Narnia's royal family. Speaking of her new friends- if Isaiah didn't blame them, they were sure to blame themselves. And she hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Peter she forgave him . . .

"Well, they'll notice your handiwork much sooner." one of the men laughed and waved a hand to what she suddenly realized were two faun guards laying on top of each other. Blood seeped from their chests, which had been impaled.

Davina saw red. She grit her teeth as anger pounded through her. Her feral cry was lost to the gag in her mouth, but she felt her strength return as adrenaline shot into her system. She slammed her shoulder into the man who had a firm grip on her right upper arm. He slammed into the wall and she followed him, spinning to avoid hitting him and falling. She hit the wall as well, but she was out of their clutches now.

One of the men cursed and lunged for her, but she dodged him and kicked his side before taking off in a run in the direction she'd come. As much as she wanted these men to meet the same fate as those poor fauns, Davina knew she didn't stand a chance if she tried to dole out justice in her own strength. She had to get help. Preferably from someone who was armed.

She didn't make it very far. One of the men tackled her, his shoulder caught her in the back and she hit the ground hard, turning her head just in time to keep her chin from hitting the tile floor. As it was, her temple and cheekbone slammed into it instead.

Davina saw stars and immediately felt nausea boil in her stomach. Her vision blurred as she was pulled off the ground.

"Don't you dare try that again, Prophesied One," the man she'd hit growled as he backhanded her in the same spot she'd been hit before. She blacked out for a few seconds before stumbling forward on heavy feet, men on either side of her as they rushed her toward the exit.


	17. Grave News

_**Author's Note: New chapter! Woohoo! Sorry for the wait, y'all!**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Davina, Isaiah, and the currently unnamed faun. :P**_

**Chapter 17- Grave News**

Peter watched with a half-smirk as his brother dropped into his throne with less grace than Susan would have liked. It was a good thing she was currently dancing, then. The younger king's hair was a mess and his crown lopsided. Peter couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's bedraggled appearance. No matter how much he complained, everyone knew that Edmund was almost as good a dancer as Susan, and enjoyed it nearly as much.

Edmund scowled half-heartedly in his direction and Peter fiddled with his own crown so his brother would get the hint. True to form, Ed's hand groped for his own crown and he adjusted it with only a slight eye roll. Edmund leaned on the left arm of his throne and put his hand in his chin, barely stifling a yawn.

"How goes it, brother?" The boy asked.

The seventeen year-old rubbed the back of his neck, not eager to delve into his personal emotions again. He kept it simple. "I'm worried about Davina."

"Yes, I talked to her earlier. She's been looking for you." Edmund's barely concealed smile fanned Peter's hope that he and his friend would be reconciled soon. "No doubt she's still swirling around the dance floor, though. She's hardly been able to catch a break from the suitors."

Peter's sword hand twitched, but he ignored the knowing look his brother was sure to be throwing his way. Instead, his eyes scanned the dance floor for a swirling cream and black spot. He didn't have much luck, though he did manage to spot Isaiah as he pulled a laughing Lucy in from a particularly complicated spin. The sight brought a smile to his face.

"Tarkaan Erain invited her to Calormen," Edmund said off-handedly as Peter was drinking. The High King nearly choked on his mead.

"What?"

"I knew you liked her!" Edmund smirked triumphantly, then waved a dismissing hand. "She's not interested in him at all. He's too flirtatious and she finds it irritating and a bit unsettling. She told him some excuse about needing our approval and Isaiah to escort her and Erain basically dropped it."

"You talked about all this while you were dancing?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. You like her!" Edmund seemed positively giddy. "Susan owes me some money," he muttered so quietly that Peter almost didn't catch it.

"I do not! And you two were betting money on us?"

"Stop deflecting, Peter! Admit it."

Peter scowled at his brother, not entirely certain how strong his feelings for their guest were. He thought she was beautiful, especially when her eyes lit up as she laughed. Sometimes when she'd lay her head on his arm after a particularly trying day, his breath would catch at her touch. She made him laugh harder than any woman besides his sisters could. Peter's heart caught in his chest. And having her mad at him felt like the world was crashing down around his feet.

He looked over at his brother and the widening smirk told him he'd been defeated. He didn't even have to admit it anymore, because it was in his eyes. Still, he felt it needed to be said aloud.

"You win. I just-"

The two were interrupted as a young faun came cantering up to the two of them, eyes wild with panic. He barely stopped in time to bow.

"Is there something troubling you, noble faun?" Peter asked as he brother sat up attentively.

"I didn't know who to come to." The faun was nearly shaking with anxiety. "The- The lady you escorted, your Majesty." He looked at Peter with an almost pleading look.

"What happened to Lady Davina?" He jumped to his feet and grasped the faun's shoulders, barely restraining himself from shaking the information out of him.

"Two men. They took her. She's bleeding and they did it. They hurt her and took her through the Eastern wing." Peter pulled away from the young faun as if he'd been burnt. As the faun's words registered, he saw red.

Edmund jumped into action before Peter could even form words. "Noble faun, please find Queen Susan, Queen Lucy, and Queen Susan's escort, Sir Isaiah. Inform them of what's happened. Then you must inform General Oreius. Do this with the utmost speed. May the Lion be with you."

The faun barely had time to nod before the two kings were off. With long strides, the two took the nearest exit from the dance hall and hurried through the hallways as fast as they could manage.

"How far do you think they've managed to go?" Edmund asked his older brother, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword as he ran.

Peter thought for a moment, breathing steadily as his feet pounded the tile beneath him. "They're probably almost outside by now. We'd better get there quickly. They may have horses."

* * *

Lucy couldn't hide the beaming smile that spread across her visage like a Cheshire cat. Isaiah was laughing boisterously and Susan blushing.

"It wasn't that funny," she huffed.

"Oh yes it was, Su." Isaiah's chest rumbled and he held his stomach for fear it would burst inside of him. Lucy could feel the heat rising from her chest to her face as she struggled to hold back her own laughter.

"Come off it, Susan. You saw his face too!" the girl prodded her sixteen year-old sister.

Susan bit her lip, trying desperately to suppress the emerging smile.

"It was so red-" Isaiah had to pause for air. "I thought he was going to faint!"

"Yes, well, the Countess must be mortified." Susan tried to reason with them.

"Serves her right," Lucy countered. "She's had her nose in the air all night."

"I suppose she did deserve it," Susan chuckled. "Corin really outdid himself this time in tripping that poor man. Let's just hope he stays hidden and the man doesn't get charged with assault for tackling her like that."

"I would vouch for him," Lucy grinned.

"Your Majesties! Sir Isaiah!" A faun practically shoved his way to where the three were conversing and hastily bowed. "I bear grave news."

* * *

Davina felt like someone had slipped something into her mead. Her head hurt and her disconnected thoughts swam in fragments in her brain. She felt sluggish and sick and she knew it was from hitting her head and blood loss, but it wasn't like she could do anything about either of those things.

_I really liked this dress, too,_ she found herself thinking.

One of her feet slipped out from under her again and a string of curses were thrown in her direction by the man on her right. She furrowed her brow as tears slipped down her cheeks. She just wanted to stop hurting and she wanted to be safe.

Biting her lower lip, she blinked rapidly, forcing herself to focus as if waking up from an incredibly deep slumber. She could see the last door of the palace rapidly approaching. Then they would be in the gardens and likely take one of the servants' side gates to escape into the woods on the perimeter and she would never be heard from again.

_Oh Aslan, don't let Isaiah blame them for this. Don't let Peter blame himself for it. Don't let them tear each other's throats out because they're both guilty and please don't let Isaiah lose his home because I'm stupid enough to get kidnapped._

She wished she could talk to her captors at least. She wanted to know why they were taking her. She wanted to know why she was the Prophesied One, yet no one in Cair Paravel seemed to be able to find out where the prophecy came from or what it was about.

Then again, she supposed it didn't matter much anymore. She was in the hands of the enemy. All hope was lost and they would likely dispose of her as soon as she lost use to them. They had tried to kill her before. They would likely succeed this time, just outside castle walls.

They reached outside air now. This would be her last glimpse of the gardens before she was taken into the woods. This was where she and Peter had fought mere days ago.

It seemed so trivial now.

She hoped the Narnians didn't find her bloated corpse in the forest a few days from now or something. The thought was nauseating. She didn't want to put her brother and new friends through that.

"If you value your lives at all, you will release Lady Davina and run."

Edmund's voice was followed by the sound of metal on metal and the sensation of hope making Davina feel like she was going to burst. She was spun around to face them, her body half protecting the two men who held her arms. She felt too weak to struggle now, but she wished again that the gag was gone.

She wanted to tell them how glad she was that they were there. She wanted to tell Peter that she forgave him and that he was still her best friend and maybe she liked him as something more than that. She wanted to tell Ed that he was still the best little brother ever. She wanted to tell them that, even if they weren't able to save her, she was so proud of them both.

"If either of you two do so much as breathe too loudly, the Prophesied One dies!"

They both looked scared and Davina hated that she was putting them in this position. She was so sick and tired of being attacked and fearing for her life and scaring the life out of everyone she cared about.

It was about at that point, with one of the men's daggers held so rigidly against her throat that she could feel the warm, sticky blood from the superficial cut beneath it sliding past her collarbone, that the terror hit her again. The blood loss, the adrenaline, even hitting her head as hard as she had- all of it had seemed to dull her fear up until this point. Everything had seemed surreal until she saw Edmund and Peter standind in front of her, swords drawn, frozen and looking for all the world like they were itching to come to her rescue.

The tears started up again and panic flooded her chest like a prisoner desperate for escape yet finding none. Her body started to shake despite her best attempt to still it. The knife cut deeper as her body rattled against it.

* * *

Isaiah, Susan, and Lucy were creeping up behind the men holding Davina hostage. They kept to the shadows, every step careful and deliberate. It was Susan who had decided cutting them off would be the best course of action. Isaiah could kiss her for it! They were in exactly the position to aid Edmund and Peter, who had every ounce of the intruders' attention.

"Lu, how many daggers do you have on you right now?" Isaiah asked, keeping his fingers crossed. Davina had mentioned the girl's tendency to keep weapons handy when they had danced earlier. He doubted that changed when she was at a banquet.

"Two," Lucy responded.

Susan threw a half-irritated glance at her younger sister, no doubt thinking she was too young to be carting weapons around.

"Can I borrow one?"

Lucy moved slowly. Edmund was trying to reason with the men in front of them. Both kings had caught sight of the reinforcements by now and were only trying to stall.

"If you were going to kill her you wouldn't have bothered kidnapping her."

Lucy pulled both daggers out of sheaths hidden beneath her dress that were just abover her knees. She slipped one into Isaiah's hand and kept the other. The two approached slowly and carefully.

"Surely you know better by now," the one holding Davina was saying. "You've failed the prophecy, boys." He pulled the knife away from her neck and positioned it to plunge into Davina's chest.


End file.
